Somebody Save Me
by Writer With Sprite
Summary: When Alex's attempt to rescue Fox from his captors goes terribly wrong, the K-Unit are sent on their first undercover mission by the MI6: To investigate the slave ring that is responsible for the abduction of both of their friends. AU.
1. Greetings, Screams, and Bruises

This wasn't a neighborhood that Wolf would have normally visited, but he didn't really have a choice tonight. He'd promised to visit Stephanie before she left, and of course, she was leaving tonight. He let out a tired sigh, wondering if he should have told her to come to a better place. He hoped that when Stephanie came back for her courses next year, she chose a better place to stay.

Wolf sighed and attempted to shake off his tiredness. He just wasn't in the world's best mood tonight. He was tired and apprehensive; he'd parked his car on the other side of the tracks. This was one neighborhood where you couldn't leave your car parked in if it didn't have six thousand dings and dents in it. If you left it out, it would be stolen.

His hand went instantly to his holster as he heard in the scream in the alley. Wolf may have been finished with the SAS – he, Fox, Snake, and Eagle had only served a year – but he still kept his weapon on him. He figured that he had a concealed carry permit and that he might as well use it. It had come in handy more than once. Once in the SAS, always in the SAS. At least that was how it was for the K-Unit.

The scream came again, louder this time. For some reason, the voice sounded vaguely familiar, although Wolf had thought that couldn't be right. Wolf stopped in his tracks, trying to place where the scream came from, not responding to the action as he thought about his best method of attack. He blinked twice as the door two houses down flew open and a teenager was shoved out.

Wolf blinked. The teenager looked familiar and appeared to be more than fifteen.

"Would you bloody well listen to me?" the voice yelled. It kicked the figure that was lying down. Wolf gasped, surprised. The figure was reminded him of Cub. The theory that Cub had had really rich parents went flying out the window. _Holy __shit, __it__ was __Cub_ – the same Cub who he'd seen flying down the mountain at the Alps. "I told you not to eat today, stupid slave!"

His finger itched on the holster. _Not to eat today?_ Wolf moved forward. That was a punishment that had been dished out on him many times during his childhood and he would never dish it out on another child. He wondered what Cub had done to "deserve" this punishment, if indeed this was Cub. A closer look revealed that it actually was the teenager. Wolf winced and hoped he wouldn't have to intervene.

Cub moved towards the alley next to the house, and Wolf moved slightly closer to see Cubs' actions while still concealing his movement Cub lifted the filthy blanket and burrowed himself under it. Wolf would have never known he was there if he hadn't seen the blanket move. Wolf was surprised. Well, there went the theory that the kid had a great family.

More out of curiosity, and out of the thought that a fifteen-year-old kid shouldn't be in the street, Wolf moved forward. Why didn't Cub sleep in his bed, like a normal person? He gently shook the blanket, ready to get more information out of Cub. He instantly regretted it.

Cub darted awake, kicking Wolf in the gut as his instinctive movements kicked in. He blanched when he realized who it was. "I'm sorry!" he responded, holding his hands up in surprised when he saw who it was. A look of anger flashed across his face, but he quickly buried it.

The situation struck Wolf as odd. This was the only time that Wolf had seen Cub afraid. Oh, Cub had been pissed off at the SAS training camp and when Wolf had seen him flying down the Alps, but not afraid. Now he was afraid. What had caused his sudden change in demeanor?

"I didn't mean too," Cub said, looking nervously at him now. Wolf was suddenly reminded of how much he'd grown since Breacon Beacons; if this had happened then, he'd have mocked the kid endlessly.

"It's okay, kid," Wolf responded, trying to be reassuring. It was then when the door creaked open. Wolf could see a woman step out.

"Jesus Christ, kid," the woman responded. Wolf glanced at her and wondered who he was. He flashed back to the conversation he'd had at the Alps with Cub. He knew his parents were dead, so who was he living with? "I told you not to talk today – I didn't mean you should yell instead. Stop pissing of Mike, alright?" She turned to Wolf and glared. "Who the hell are you? Leave him alone."

"I'm a friend," Wolf responded. He wasn't about to mention Alex's time at SAS and explain why he was here. "Care to explain why your son was about to spend the night outside?" The moon was slowly starting to rise, and from Alex's dirty comforter, it was obvious that he'd been about to spend the night in the dark alley.

The woman rolled her eyes, as if Wolf's statement had been stupid. "He was punished. That's his punishment."

"What'd he do?" Wolf demanded. _Who__ the __fuck __would __let__ their __kid__ sleep__ in __a __back __alley__… __for __what __punishment?_

"He talked. He's not supposed to talk." With that, the woman slammed the door again.

"What do you want, Wolf?" Alex asked. He had regained his composure during Wolf's attempt to question his legal guardian. "You don't like me, so just leave me alone." He was careful to keep his voice low as so not to disturb "Mike", whoever he was.

"I can't let you sleep outside," Wolf responded. A gun shot was heard somewhere in the background. "In case you haven't noticed, this isn't the best neighborhood."

"No _shit_; don't think I didn't realize that? Look, I live here." Alex didn't even blush. "If you're not going to help – fuck off," Alex he added. It was clear he still didn't trust Wolf; he was still in a defensive stance. He grabbed his backpack, and Wolf could tell from the look on his face that he was ready to bolt.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I need to get some sleep. Since you won't let me sleep here, and I can't sleep inside, I guess it's going to be on a nice, comfortable park bench."

"No," Wolf responded. He put his hand on Alex's shoulder, gently. He'd had a younger brother once. He'd died when he was Alex's age – right before Wolf had gone to camp. That was why Wolf had been such a jackass to Alex. "You can come stay at my house. I have room."

"I have school in the morning," Alex responded shortly. His stance made it clear that he didn't trust Wolf. "Besides," he added, a sneer on his face, "You have made it quite clear that _you-do-not-want-me_."

Wolf's cell phone rang, but he ignored it. "Look, come on. I'm sure the K-Unit would love the chance to catch up." _And figure out what the hell is going on, so we don't get arrested for failing to report the abuse of a minor. _He wrinkled his nose. "Look, at least come get a meal and a shower, okay?"

"Fine," Alex responded, realizing that Wolf wasn't going to leave him alone. He glanced at the blanket that was covered with dirt.

"Leave it," Wolf responded. "You can use Joe's things."

"Won't Joe mind?"

Wolf fixed Alex with a look. "He was my brother. He died right before I left for camp. He was your age."

"I'm sorry," Alex responded. That was the last thing he said until they made their way to Wolf's apartment.

* * *

><p>Wolf told Alex to shower in the guest bedroom while he hunted for some of his brother's old things for Alex to use. Somehow, he had never gotten around to throwing them out – partially because he felt like that would be throwing away his brother forever. He was glad that he hadn't now.<p>

Alex finished his shower quickly and changed into the clothes Wolf had provided. He had told Wolf he didn't need to bother washing his clothes, but Wolf has insisted. The jacket Alex had been wearing was stained with blood. Wolf hoped that it wasn't Alex's blood, but had the sinking gut feeling that he was wrong.

He was relieved when the rest of the K-Unit made their way into the hunt. Wolf had finally managed to convince Alex to stay for the entire night. Hopefully, they could figure out what was going on. "What's up, Wolf?" Ben asked. He pointed towards the bag Alex had left by the front door, noticing that it wasn't something that the twenty-something would choose for himself to use. "Got visitors?"

Wolf nodded and gestured towards the table. "One fifteen year old semi-street kid named Cub."

"Semi street kid named…?" Snake asked as he picked out the medical information first. He paused, trying to place the name.

"Cub?" Eagle finished for Snake. He jumped out of his chair. "He's here? Why didn't you say so? That's cool that you invited him for a visit. Did you tell him we were coming?"

"Eagle," Fox warned, and somehow Wolf knew Fox knew something that Wolf didn't.

"He's in the guest room, but -," Wolf started to say, but Eagle's presence interrupted him. He darted towards the room. After all, it was _his_ house he shared with Wolf. It wasn't like Wolf could tell him what to do. Wolf shook his head, hoping he wouldn't overwhelm Alex with all of his information.

Wolf turned towards Fox, remembering the man's words. "You know something. Spill," he responded, his arms crossed.

"First tell me what you know," Fox responded. His fingers tapped nervously on the desk. _What__are__you__hiding_? Wolf thought.

"No, _you_ tell me what you know, and don't you dare give me that 'it's classified' bullshit," Wolf replied. He paused. "This has something to do with the guy who beat you up, right?"

Fox sighed, clearly not wanting to reveal the information. "Well, yes, but—"

Snake turned towards him. "Explain. You said you didn't know who attacked you," he responded with a glare. "It seems you know more than you told us."

"Before you get pissed off at me, Snake, let me explain. Wolf, yes, the man who attacked me was Alex's step-dad -,"

"Alex's step dad was the one who beat an SAS and MI6 member unconscious?" Snake cried. He remembered seeing Fox's body and rushing him to the E.R. Fox had woken up and said he had no idea who had attacked him.

"But I didn't realize it until I saw Cub again a few weeks later. I was visiting Alex's school – it's part of my job as a social worker – and Alex's father was coming in for a parent teacher conference with me," he responded. "You know my job as a Social Worker involves me working with Brookwood kids."

"Right," Wolf responded. So Brookwood must be where Alex had gone to school. He was still confused. So Alex's step-dad had assaulted Fox, and knocked him unconscious. And had not faced charges. His fingers clenched. If Alex's step-father could knock out Ben, one of the strongest men on their team, what would he do to Alex?

"Anyway, I called the kid's father in to talk to me. It was then when I realized he was the one who attacked me. He didn't say anything during the meeting – he didn't even attend after he saw me; he just grabbed Cub and left. I think he must have realized who I was, because he left." Fox turned towards Wolf. "What brought on the sudden Cub-visits-Wolf's flat?"

Wolf sighed. It was then that he started to tell them Alex's story, about how he'd found Cub. "So what are we going to do now?"

Fox shrugged. His shoulder was still sore from the attack, and he winced while doing it. It was clear that he was still sore from the attack. "Well," he responded thoughtfully, "You are approved for foster care, right, Wolf?"

Wolf nodded. He had been hoping to get custody of his brother once he had finished with the SAS – but it had been too late. He just kept silent, not wishing to bring up the memory.

"Then I'll make some calls," Fox responded. "I'd love to take Alex in, but I'm sure they would call it a conflict of interest – I can't be Alex's social worker and his foster parent," Fox responded with a roll of his eyes. "Eve n though I'm not technically his social worker," he muttered under his breath as he flipped out his mobile.

"So, how do you feel about being a father?" Snake asked Wolf in a teasing but worried tone as he watched Eagle and Alex emerge from the room. It was going to be a long night, he knew, instantly noting Alex's bruises that were plainly visible on his arms.


	2. Mean Caseworker

It had taken Fox two days to get Alex removed from his house. The K-Unit had gone to bed that night only to find that Alex had slipped out the window quietly and had returned to his own home. Wolf had not been pleased, but there had been little he could do. Fox had used a good deal of his social work training and a good deal of his contact information to try and get him removed. It had still been two full days before Alex's social worker, a man named Michael, removed him. Then it was only temporary.

Fox had sworn under his breath when he'd hung up the phone. "I hate Michael," he'd muttered as he had glared at the phone, as if that would make it all better.

"What's so bad about him?" Eagle had asked. Eagle, who lived with Wolf, was a good listener on the days he was actually serious.

"You'll see," Fox responded, "trust me."

Fox and Snake had taken off a few hours before Alex had arrived, not wanting to overwhelm the kid by having them all there at once.

Wolf glanced at the door as he looked at the car. "They're here, Eagle," he responded as his friend came out of the kitchen.

"Oh, joy," Eagle responded as he looked at the car. "Hey, if this guy's really as mean as Fox says, can I vandalize his car?"

Wolf shook his head. _What was Eagle's fascination with vandalizing cars? Oh, well, at least it wasn't fire,_ he reminded himself.

"No," Wolf responded, cuffing Eagle on the back of his head.

* * *

><p>"I'm not living with him!" Alex said as he clenched his fingers on the baseball that Jack had given him right before he had been yanked from her care. "You don't understand. He hates me! I can't go with him!" He swallowed hard as he glanced at the small flat.<p>

The appearance of Wolf's house was nice enough, he supposed, but he'd much rather be with Jack, even if her boyfriends did have the tendency to use him as a punching bag. Why did Wolf have to get involved? He was perfectly happy living with Jack. It wasn't like it was Jack's fault that her boyfriends acted like a creep every time they saw Alex. It wasn't her fault that her new husband liked abusing him to no end. At least he knew how to play her boyfriend's games.

Learn how to play new games all over again? Be thrown into the foster care system and have been forgotten about? No, thanks. He'd take MI6 any day.

"I'm sorry, Alex," his social worker responded, "but we just don't have another home for you right now, and he is listed on your paperwork as your legal guardian, since Ben was so determined to remove you from the home."

Ben Daniels - or Fox, as Alex knew him - was not on Alex's list of favorite people right now. Alex's breath hitched at the word again. Jack had hit him all of bloody once, and he'd been removed from her care. Of course, it was probably because her current boyfriend had cocaine and PCP in the house, and had given Alex some cocaine as a way to "calm him down." Alex winced at the memory.

The past two days had been hell for Alex. All he carried was one backpack full of belongings that he now had. The rest had been burned in the fire. Alex swallowed hard, trying to put the memory behind him. Jack's husband – they had been married all of three weeks – was trying to make some meth in the kitchen and had started a huge fire as a result. The fire police had ruled the incident as intentional and had removed him from Jack's care.

He finally allowed himself to walk out of the car and made his way towards the man's house, still lost in his thoughts.

Jack's boyfriend was facing a ten-year stay in prison for various charges and Jack, having one too many charges in the United Kingdom, was deported to America for the next two weeks. Alex could only hope that it was not for forever. He missed Jack. Jack treated him with respect and showed that she really cared about him. She wasn't like Michael, who forced him to run drugs, sometimes tried to get him to take drugs (he'd had an unpleasant experience with cocaine once), and had a general attitude that Alex was his slave.

Fuck that.

Still, he wished he could be back there. At least there he knew what to expect. Here? He knew absolutely nothing and wasn't sure what tomorrow would hold.

At least at Jack's, he knew Jack was on his side. He knew what to expect. He had no clue how Wolf would treat him. He felt totally alone as his social worker pressed the doorbell.

* * *

><p>Wolf had been a little more than nervous to hear that he had Alex living with him. He already had Eagle living with him, and that was more than enough for Wolf. To have someone else move in – that he would have to take care of – was not what he'd wanted to hear. Still, he hadn't wanted to not give Cub a home – he needed out of his home environment desperately – and he was the only one of the K-Unit currently approved for foster care.<p>

Eagle smiled at Wolf as he grabbed a can of Monster that was in the fridge. "In the driveway, you say?"

"God, Eagle, why do you need an energy drink now?" Wolf responded, especially stressing the last word. The last thing he needed was a hyped-up Eagle on sugar trying to impress the social worker. Because that would go so well… "I swear, if you drink that entire thing, you're going to be running laps around the park."

"I know I am," Eagle responded with a smirk. "That's why I'm drinking it. I want to have enough excitement to welcome Alex."

Wolf cuffed Eagle on the back of the head and moved towards the window. He had told Fox and Snake that Alex was coming today, but warned them not to come over until later. He knew that Alex did not like him and he knew the meeting would be tense enough without the entire K-Unit over. He peaked out the window.

"They're here," he said, amused that it had taken them almost a full five minutes to make it from the car to the driveway. The blond-headed teenager had his arm in a blue sling and was carrying one backpack on his arm. Wolf swore. What had happened since he'd seen him last that mean that he needed his arm in a sling?

"Cool!"

"Eagle -," Wolf said, but Eagle was out the door, energy drink in his hand before he could stop him. Wolf rolled his eyes and opened the door.

"Hey, Cub!" Eagle said. Alex's eyes widened in surprise, and Wolf mildly wondered if he had expected him to live alone or had expected to see a hostile face. It really didn't matter, he reflected.

"What are you doing here?" Alex questioned. His face turned hard and weary, like he was expecting some sort of bad surprise.

"I live here," Eagle responded with a smile. He smiled at the social worker. "You must be Alex's social worker. It's nice to meet you," he responded.

The social worker seemed momentarily speechless. "I'm sorry; I thought there was only one of you living here. We don't usually put people in homes where there are parents involved in a…"

"Shut up, Mike," Alex responded with a glare that mildly impressed Wolf. "Neither of them is involved with each other like that, so save your homosexuality-is-wrong viewpoint for yourself. What happened to not being able to wait until you got rid of me?"

"Um, as I was saying…" Eagle had taken this opportunity to put down his Monster and start climbing the tree, in search of something only he could see. Alex snickered quickly, then remained passive. "Here's his paperwork. I assume you're his guardian?"

"He's hoping," Alex deadpanned at Wolf's eye roll. "He doesn't want me to live with Eagle." It was the most they'd heard of him since Wolf had seen him flying down the hill at the Alps.

"Shut up, kid," Mike responded, backhanding Alex on the back of the head. Although Wolf had performed the same move only minutes beforehand with Eagle, Mike's hit was much harder, and Alex visibly winced. Wolf made a mental note to ask Alex about that.

Wolf, who was not happy about Mike's presence, was all too happy to escort him off their property. "What should I know?" he asked, hoping to finish the introduction as quickly as possible.

Mike handed him a file. "This is the legal information you need to know surrounding Alex. It'll explain everything you had questions about that I had the answers too. Alex will need some new clothes – his got burned in the fire."

"Fire?" Wolf asked in surprise. He glanced up at the tree, where Eagle had made it to the top and was looking around for something only he understood.

"He'll explain. Have a good time, Alex!" Michael responded before twisting Alex's arm a little too hard behind his back and walking down to the car.

Wolf clenched his teeth. He didn't like Mike's demeanor at all. He made a mental note to talk to Alex about it. Or Fox.

Eagle dropped down from the tree the second that Michael was gone. "I really don't like him," he responded as the trio made their way in the house.

"I gathered that when you decided to climb a tree to avoid him," Wolf responded. "What the hell were you looking for, anyway?"

Alex flinched, and Wolf realized that his voice had been a bit harsher than usual. "Oh, just a Frisbee that got left up there the last time we played," Eagle responded with a shrug. "Why?"

Wolf just shrugged as he made his way into the apartment. "This will be your room here," he said to Alex. When he had decided to purchase the flat with Eagle, they'd gotten a three-bedroom house so that the K-Unit could come and visit occasionally. He didn't realize he'd gotten it for Alex's stay. He mused over the fact of whether or not that contributed in MI6's decision to write him down as Alex's guardians.

"Come on, where am I really sleeping?" Alex said, his sudden sneer a surprise to Wolf. "You can tell me now. Mike's left. Besides, he won't even care."

"What do you mean by that?" Eagle asked. He appeared to be just as surprised and as clueless as Wolf.

Alex snorted and looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Foster kids don't get a whole room to themselves," he responded with a shrug. "If we do, it's for show and they stick the kid in the basement. So, come on – where am I really sleeping?"

Eagle exchanged a look with Wolf. Neither of them had been expecting this from Alex. Alex's hands remained tightly gripped on his backpack, and it was obvious that the boy expected something bad to happen.

Just what had they gotten themselves into?

* * *

><p>CHALLENGE: How long will Alex stay with Wolf until he runs away again?<p> 


	3. It's Really Your Room

A/N: To answer some questions – yes, Alex did work with the MI6; that is how Fox and the K-Unit know him. In this story, however, he only did the first mission and didn't tangle with Scorpia. Alex's stepfather put down his foot and said he would not be allowed to go. Also, in this story, Ian Rider left custody of Alex Rider to Jack. I was planning on working this into the story, so it will still show in parts, but I thought it would make more sense if I explained it now.

Hope you enjoy the cliffie! Please review. Sorry, it's a little short-but you'll understand why I wanted to stop at the end.

## break ##

"Well, we have a basement," Eagle said finally, being the first to regain his since of vocabulary. He could wear even Wolf down with his annoying chatter. He was the best of them at Resistance to Interrogation training, and there was a reason for it. "But I don't really think you want to live in it. It's pretty grimy. I don't remember the last time Wolf cleaned it out. Plus, it's got all of my stuff down there," he added with a grin.

Alex's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "So this is really my room?"

"'Course," Eagle responded with a grin. He glanced at Wolf. "Come on. I'll help you get unpacked and then we can get you some new clothes. What do you think?"

"I don't need anything," Alex responded. His grip on his backpack tightened and Wolf wondered what was in there. He also wondered about Alex's sudden resistance to them. Although he hadn't been overly friendly at training, he hadn't been timid.

"Sure you do," Eagle replied back. He grinned at Alex. "We need to at least get something for the dinner tonight. Snake and Fox are coming over."

"Tell you what," Wolf responded, feeling like Alex was uncomfortable with him around. "I'm going to go clean out my room while you help Alex get settled in, Eagle."

"Wow," Eagle said with a grin. Wolf rolled his eyes. "That must be a record, Wolf. Twice in three weeks your room will have the floor space visible."

"Shut up, Eagle," Wolf responded as he made his way to his room, wondering not for the first time what he'd gotten himself into.

## Break ##

It didn't take long to unpack Alex's belongings, and it seemed as though he was more comfortable around Eagle than he was around Wolf. Eagle wondered why, but didn't push the question. Eagle sighed, thinking back to his own time in foster care. He had been more comfortable around those who weren't his guardians. He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes with a tired sigh. "So where do you shop?"

"Where do I shop?" Alex glanced at Eagle with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Wherever _he_ won't yell at me for it."

Eagle was surprised once again at Alex's sudden biting tone but he attempted to shrug it off. He checked his watch. They still had about three hours before dinner and the rest of the K-Unit came over. "Let's just go to the mall. We'll probably find something there," he responded. He knew Wolf would be reimbursed by the agency for anything they spent.

"Sure," Alex responded. It was clear that he was still hesitant. Eagle tried to ignore his own memories from foster care as he went to inform Wolf about where they were going.

## break ##

Snake and Fox arrived as soon as they'd gotten the call from Wolf that Eagle and Alex had left. "You trust those two together?" Fox asked as he wearily sat down on the chair.

"Alex doesn't trust me, but he's decided that he does trust Eagle," Wolf responded with a shrug. "I have no idea why, but I've decided to go with what works."

"It's probably because Eagle's not his guardian. I've had placements where kids will tell me they don't trust the parents at all but they usually can latch onto a sibling. There's no other kids here, so Alex is probably latching onto who he trusts," Fox replied.

"You know way too much about that stuff," Snake grinned.

Fox grinned back. "Comes with the territory, Mother Hen."

"I am _not_ a mother hen," Snake responded with a roll of his eyes. "Why did Alex's stepfather attack you?" he asked quietly.

It was Fox's turn to be deadly silent, and he took his time to sit in his chair. His fingers tapped on the table. It was clear that he wanted to talk about it but wasn't sure where to start. "I was doing home visitations. A nurse at school had complained about some of Alex's bruises, and I wanted to check up on him. I knew some of his scars were from SAS but I needed to see if they were more recent. Alex's step-father wasn't home when I was there; Jack and Alex were. Jack got really defensive when I got in there."

"Why so defensive?" Snake mused.

"She was hiding cocaine on her person," Fox responded. "Don't ask; I'll explain later. Anyway, Alex was there, too, and he had fresh bruises—a sure sign. I asked him what they were from but he wouldn't answer me. Jack told me that he wasn't allowed to speak."

"Oh, that's rich," Wolf replied. He frowned thoughtfully. "You know, Fox, I heard that from Jack that day, too."

"I finally got Alex alone, but he still wouldn't talk to me. At that time, Jack told me I was done. I left and was talking on my phone to Jenna – she's my boss – about Alex. I had just hung up when the guy attacked me."

"How did he attack you?"

"He was wearing a mask." Fox closed his eyes, and Wolf could tell he was reliving the attack. "He grabbed me from behind and put something over my mouth. It knocked me out and he used that time to drag me to an alley. Not by Cub's house; he'd never be that stupid. I woke up about twenty minutes later and I didn't know where I was."

"Did he wait until you were awake to start talking to you?" Snake questioned.

"Yeah," Fox nodded. "He said…" Fox frowned thoughtfully. "He said 'stay away from Alex.' Dammit, that is what he said; I wish I could have remembered that. Anyway, he attacked me then… and you found out the rest," he added.

Wolf frowned again. "I think there's something else going on in the situation. Something more," he added at Fox's confused look.

"I'm not saying I disbelieve you, but why do you think that?"

"I don't think that his father would attack you just to get you to back off. I mean, you're a social worker. That's pretty extreme," Wolf commented.

"I agree," Snake muttered. "Well, Alex and Eagle are back."

"Wait," Wolf responded, his hand going to his holster again. "Fox, whose car is that?"

"Shit, shit, shit," Fox responded as he peered out the window. "Damn Michael. _Fuck_ him."

"Tell me what happened, right now," Wolf ordered. He saw the man step out of the car. "We don't have a lot of time."

"Michael was dead set against me removing Alex from his home. I bet you anything he's the one who told them where he lived," Fox responded. "Alex wants to live with Jack, Wolf. He's made that very clear. We're about to have a battle."

"Oh, joy," Wolf said as he made his way out the door, his hand resting firmly on his gun.

## break ##

So, your challenge, for those of you who are brave enough to partake: Will Wolf be able to keep custody of Alex, or will Jack and her husband take him away?


	4. A Lucky Break

A/N: Just because I thought this was confusing and this was pointed out by Torn Apart Dinosaur - Michael is Jack's husband, but he is not also a social worker. To avoid confusion, "Mike" is Jack's husband and Michael is the social worker. A personal thank you to each one who reviewed. Tomorrow, when I have time and am feeling better, I will respond to all of them. I may be able to update this on Monday, but no promises, as I have an internship interview.

Challenge is as always at the bottom. A special thank you to Albany, who always reviews in his/her? Own language. I love translating your reviews! XD

## break ##

Fox was the first one out, but Wolf and Eagle soon followed. "Jack was supposed to be deported to America for two weeks to get her paperwork straightened out, but guess what?" Mike smirked as he hugged his wife. "We managed to show all the paperwork here, and prove that Jack didn't need to go abroad."

"Good," Fox responded crisply. He was not amused by the minivan. What were their plans? "You should know, however, that Michael will be arrested and tried for his assault on a social worker, and that Jack will be charged with possession of cocaine. And that this will go into affect right now if you attempt to take Alex."

Eagle, unknowingly to the two, was already talking to local law enforcement, telling them to hurry up. He'd made some good friends on the team when he'd helped out in a shootout, and their motto was "we protect our own." Eagle knew that their own would include Wolf's new charge.

Alex stepped out of the car, but Eagle stayed inside, not wanting to be shown to be talking on the phone.

Fox had left his gun inside and was closest to the two. When the siren sounded in the background, Mike swore loudly and wrapped his fleshy, meaty arms around Fox's neck. A knife was displayed. Jack's gaze was no longer friendly.

"Alex," Jack responded, "Get in the car." She slid in. Wolf looked like he wanted to shoot her but held back. The second Mike moved, however as far as Fox was concerned, Mike was fair game.

"Don't go, Alex," Fox responded. Wolf, Eagle and Snake all had their weapons drawn. Eagle had disconnected from the phone and was now ready for armed duty. "Alex, no matter what they do to me, _do-not-go_."

Alex looked incredibly torn and nervous. He bit his nail and tried to think rationally.

"We don't have time for this!" Mike swore. He started backing up. Eagle moved closer, trying to attack from behind, but Mike was having none of it.

Then a bullet fired. And another one. Eagle grabbed Alex's arms and dropped down on top of him. "Get the fucking kid!" a new voice yelled as Fox was dragged to the car. "He's why we're here!"

Wolf fired back, and the figure fell out of the tree. Snake's eyes were still on the car. Mike had used the firefight as a diversion and was now backtracking with Fox.

"Let him go," Snake demanded coldly. "You're not only kidnapping a social worker, you're kidnapping an SAS agent. They'll come after you with open arms."

"Let them," Michael taunted. With that, he managed to drag Fox into the van and the door slid shut. Wolf took the opportunity to fire two bullets into the side of the van, but the van managed to drive off.

"Dammnit!" Wolf swore even as the cops pulled to the background. He didn't care if they weren't officially the K-Unit anymore, it was still _his_ team and he had failed to protect one of his members.

Alex had gone a pale white and refused to speak. Eagle was trying to coax him to go inside, but he was simply numb and wouldn't move. The police pulled into the yard and moved quickly, guns drawn.

"Report of a domestic disturbance! Please lower your weapons instantly!" Two more cop cars filled the area.

_Oh, _Wolf thought tiredly as he looked at Cub, who had tears streaking down his cheeks, _this was going to be rich._

_## break ## _

Fox was not happy. He was laying facedown on the floor of a different car. Mike hadn't hurt him too badly when he was in the car but Fox was pretty sure he'd managed to damage two of his ribs and badly twist his arm. Fox knew that because of the injury he'd have a lot of trouble getting out of any rope or handcuffs and he suspected that was Mike's plan.

Fox was gagged and tied, and unable to speak. Mike had also grabbed a pillowcase and used it as a hood so that he couldn't see a thing. He felt the swish-swish motion of the van and knew that he could be anywhere by now. He was sure he'd only been knocked out while they changed vans, but how long had that been?

"Fucking idiot." Fox was roughly kicked. "We should have grabbed the kid. He wouldn't have fought back."

"This was your brilliant idea, not mine." Jack's voice, Fox guessed. "Listen, I care about him like a brother. You better not let him get hurt in all this. You've already hurt him enough."

"And you haven't?" Mike laughed, a bitter chuckle that made Fox's blood run cold. "Look, you have someone to take care of now. Isn't that what you really wanted?"

"Dammit, Mike, I didn't change my major from studying the ozone layer and biology to psychology and a child degree for nothing! I love Alex!"

"You sure haven't been showing it lately," Mike teased. "Seriously, what are we going to do with this guy? I thought they'd give us the kid back – he knows too much about the organization."

_So Wolf is right – there is something more going on – but what? _Fox thought to himself.

"I don't know how you managed to sneak by him in the first place," Jack growled. "I never should have taken you in."

"But you love me," Mike said. There was a kissing sound and Fox rolled his eyes. Or, at least, he attempted to. "You know," Mike said thoughtfully, "Cocaine really wound Alex up. I don't think that's what we should give to this dude to calm him down. What'd Alex say his name was?"

"Ben something, I think."

"Let's ransom this dude for Alex. We'll get legal custody again. You can have your kid back, and I can be sure that he won't reveal my secrets," Mike said with a smirk.

"He's with the SAS," Jack said. "I don't know if that's a good idea. The SAS aren't your normal street cops."

"Exactly. Who is going to be worth more to them? An SAS or a street punk? Wait, what's SAS stand for anyway?" Mike asked as he scratched his head.

Despite the seriousness of the situation Fox nearly snorted. He didn't understand why Mike didn't realize what the SAS was. _Idiot. _

"Alex told me that SAS is a form of military intelligence," Jack responded.

Mike whistled and kicked Fox's body again. He ripped off the pillow case and Fox blinked at the blinding light. Now was not a good time to fight back to prove his bravery – he needed to stay alive. "Well, well, well," Mike responded. The knife came out again and rested against Fox's neck. "We really scored a lucky deal, didn't we?"

## break ##

Sorry it's so short, but I wanted you to have something. I hope you enjoy. Your challenge: Will SAS trade Alex for Fox? How long will Fox stay kidnapped?

Also, where is the one time I mentioned the word "ozone?" (only for those of you who are brave and bored).

Enjoy this week and have fun.


	5. We'll Find Him, Wolf

A/N: Yes, this is short, but it's meant to be a filler chapter. As long as I have time I'll update tomorrow. (Note: Reviews always motivate me to "Have time" XD). AS for those of you following _Hold Your Arms Steady_, it will be updated soon too, but couldn't do both today as I had an internship interview (which went well).

Hopefully this clears up some things. The person who kidnapped Fox was Alex's stepfather; Fox has had only a few dealings with Alex as his social worker, mostly to try and get him out of his home. Remember - this is AU & deals with abuse.

R&R, please!

## break ##

Alex Rider was not happy. Wolf could see it in his face as the police "did their thing." Wolf bristled at the fact that they insinuated that he had abused Alex. Wolf had gone off in a private room, and explained to the lead officer that he was an SAS agent and that the man had no need to be making such claims. He also explained that he had just gotten custody from Michael (Mike for short) and Jack and that they had been abusing him.

Wolf had also calmly but coldly explained that any more false accusations would lead to the policeman dealing directly with the MI6. The man had wisely shut up.

The man in the grass was Michael, the social worker that Fox so hated. He was arrested on several charges, a few of which were outstanding, much to Wolf's dislike. While Fox was missing, Alex was granted a new social worker, some lady named Tabitha. She would be over later, Wolf and Eagle were told.

Snake had finally been able to corner Alex in the bathroom and spent half an hour patching up his injuries. His arm had been injured in the fall and he had not been feeling well. He was furious at Snake for noticing his injuries, but Snake, who was used to dealing with Eagle and Wolf when patching them up, didn't notice Alex's behavior at all. Or at least, he wisely pretended not to.

Wolf and Eagle came back from the police station three hours later. Wolf was exhausted; Eagle was mad – while, as mad as Eagle got, anyway.

"I don't understand why they wouldn't let me stay there," Eagle whined as they opened the door.

Wolf gave a tired sigh. "Eagle…"

"Because I could have helped!"

"Eagle…"

"Fox needs help!" Eagle whined. He stopped when he saw Alex. "Hey, Alex!" Then he turned towards Wolf. "Hey, Wolf, because they arrested Michael-the-social-worker, can we go vandalize his car now?"

"No," Wolf responded, his tone flat as he silently wished not to deal with Eagle.

"Can we go vandalize the new social worker's car?" _Where did that come from? _Wolf wonders, silently, but says:

"No."

"Can we go vandalize Alex's parents' car?"

Despite himself, Alex burst out laughing. It seemed like Eagle was angrier at his parents than he was.

"For God's sake, Eagle, that's evidence," Wolf responded very slowly. "Evi-den-ce. Say it with me now, eh?"

"Why?" Eagle asked. He grabbed another can of Monster. "You already said it," he responded as he slipped out the door.

"I don't know how you put up with him sometimes," Snake said with a teasing grin towards Wolf.

"Yeah, well, we flipped coins, remember?" Wolf responded. "You…" he sighed as he looked out the window.

Snake put his hand gently on Wolf's shoulder. "We'll find him, Wolf."

"I know."

## break ##

Fox was angry and furious. Mike had decided that using his name – either Mike or Michael – was too suspicious. As Jack's husband, he said, he couldn't afford to be arrested. He decided to take the new name Matthews. With the S. He told Fox he would have to be their dependant for the time being. Fox couldn't move around too much, though. He didn't know what Mike – Matthews; he corrected himself, Matthews – had drugged him with, but it made Fox feel like he wanted to throw up.

Right now, Fox was tied up and had been shoved into a closet. It was pitch black. Matthews' theory was "out of sight, out of mind." He'd read Fox the riot act and told him that he couldn't speak and couldn't move without his express permission.

It had taken all of Fox's willpower not to throw a punch then and just escape, but Matthews-Michael had been expecting this. Fox had thrown the punch as soon as the man had been distracted, but he'd quickly twisted Fox's arm at lightning-fast speed and had almost broken it. As it was, Fox was pretty sure his shoulder had been dislocated.

He was also quietly learning about Alex's family. The family was involved in a drug organization. That was why Michael-Matthews so desperately wanted Alex not to be involved. How did Alex wind up in this situation? Fox shivered, remembering the touch of the knife against his skin.

Jack had talked to Fox just a little bit when Michael-Matthews had gone out to get them some lunch. The best Fox could tell was that Alex had done one mission for MI6, then Jack had been granted citizenship (Fox wasn't sure if he believed her – after all, they police had wanted to deport her back to the states when they'd found out she was abusing Alex) and she had not allowed them to interfere again.

Several boyfriends later (they were bastards, the lot of them,) Jack had declared, they had met this guy. Sure, he was rude to Alex, Jack had said, but he loved her and she knew he would "come around to love Alex in due time." That was when she had left.

_Yeah, well, what about that "spare time" while he was abusing him, huh_? Fox had thought. But that was enough of that. He paused slightly, hearing another man's voice. "We'll have to kill him!" the man said as he burst into the room. It wasn't Michael-Matthews; it was another. "He knows too much already."

Fox was silent, not wanting to draw any attention to himself.

"We can't kill him," Jack said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "we need him alive to get Alex back."

"He's SAS, Jack! Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"I did tell you that before," Jack responded. The door to the closet flung open and Fox found himself face-to-face with a gun.

_Well, _Fox thought,_ so much for Jack's message._

## break ##

Your challenge: does Fox get to stay alive? :-)

Reader vote! XD Welll... maybe.


	6. Can't Say Classified Around Me

Alex Rider was beyond exhausted, and, although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he was very nervous. What if Wolf decided that he didn't want him anymore because of the incident with Fox? Previous foster parents had dumped Alex for far less.

That flashback led Alex to shiver. He didn't want Wolf to be his foster parent. The man had told him at Brecon Beacons that he didn't like him. Why was he now suddenly so caring? Michael the social worker was right; it was probably just another case of either a) they wanted the money or b) they felt sorry for him.

Alex Rider _hated_ people feeling sorry for him. Still, it was no doubt a better option than being thrown out of Wolf's house right now. Wolf was SAS and could probably protect him from his parents – if he cared too.

Eagle sank down next to him. "Hey," he said tiredly. "How are you feeling?"

"Classified," Alex said with a shrug. That was how he always answered at home – that was what Michael his stepfather wanted to hear; he didn't want to hear how Alex was feeling.

"Try again. I've signed the Official Secrets Act," Eagle responded. "I'll tell you how I'm feeling: Lousy and worried. Fox is a great member of the team, and even though we're not K-Unit officially anymore, we still think of each other like a team. We'll get him back, though, Alex. He's SAS."

"Which is exactly why my stepfather will try and shoot him!" Alex burst out, wondering how Eagle could take the whole thing so lightheartedly, not realizing that Eagle was trying to be cheerful for _his_ benefit. "Look, I'm glad you care; but leave it be, okay? I'm fucking fine!"

" 'Fucking' and 'fine' rarely go in the same sentence, Cub," Eagle said. Alex somehow got the feeling that statement was meant to be a reprimand. "Well, I suppose they could, but this situation they wouldn't."

"Your mind," Alex responded with a roll of his eyes, feeling slightly more at ease, "Is seriously in the gutter." He swallowed hard. "Any news on Fox?"

"They switched vans and dumped one of the vans about twenty miles from here. Apparently, they didn't like the bullet holes on the van's décor," Eagle quipped. "We think they're driving a stolen van. If that's true, there's an APB on it and we can expect results from that."

"Why are you telling me this?" Alex questioned, suddenly suspicious of Eagle's motives. "I'm sure it's not out of the goodness of your heart."

"Actually, it pretty much is," Eagle responded. "And the fact that you should know what's going on."

"Thanks," Alex said, surprised. Their talk was the first time that he'd been able to get the straightforward truth from anyone from a long time. "Uh, so…" he swallowed hard. Maybe he could trust Eagle; after all, Eagle was Wolf's roommate and didn't seem to be sporting the typical bruises of abuse or be afraid of Wolf. "So, um, how mad is Wolf at me?"

"He's not mad at you at all," Eagle said with a wave of his arms. "Trust me, he's far more angry at the police officer who tried to play the situation like it was a domestic violence dispute. Accused him of abusing you," Eagle responded with a roll of his eyes.

_Might happen sooner than you realize, buddy, _Alex thought quietly.

"Listen, Cub, don't take that the wrong way," Eagle said as he looked at Alex and realized what the man meant. "Look, I can't say I've ever been in your shoes exactly. For one thing, they're way too small for my feet." Alex flashed him a grin with a pained look that clearly said _just-tell-me-what-you're-going-to-tell-me_. "But I've been abused before, and I know what it's like to worry about shit. Wolf won't hurt you. He's mean on the outside, but in the inside, he's a big softie."

"He's like a big marshmellow," a second voice agreed. It was Snake. Alex bristled away from the man before he could attempt to "help" Alex with any of his bruises again. The last time Jack had attempted to help Alex, as well-meaning as she was, he'd nearly gotten sick from her remedies. He trusted Snake far less than he trusted Jack.

"What's up, Snake?" Eagle asked as he glanced at the man.

"We have a lead on Fox."

## break ##

Fox was roughly yanked out of the closet and the gag was torn off his mouth. "So, tell me," the man responded, Michael-Matthews, "What your name is."

_This isn't SAS, _Fox thought, wondering how much he should reveal and how much he shouldn't. He decided that more information would be better at this point. Part of Hostage Training 101 was that the more the hostage-taker knew about you, the less likely they were to kill you. "Benjamin Daniels," he responded, "but everyone just calls me Ben."

Michael-Matthews just glared at him. "Is it true that you work for the SAS?"

"Almost," Fox responded, eyeing the man's twitchy finger that rested all-too-firmly on his pistol. SAS couldn't really do him any harm. The K-Unit had quit after a year in when Eagle had been shot at the training grounds. Eagle, although fine, wouldn't have been able to return to active SAS duty. The rest of the K-Unit decided to step down with him. "I used to, but I quit. I'm a social worker now."

"A social worker…" Michael-Matthews traced his finger thoughtfully. "Like Michael, that annoying son-of-a-bitch who comes and checks on Alex every now and then? I pay him a hefty sum to make Alex be quiet about the drug operation."

Fox wished that he could have that on a camera – he'd just learned an interesting fact about Alex's stepfather, Michael the social worker, and Alex's family relationship in two revealing sentences. "Sort of. But I don't take bribes," he added hastily.

"You look familiar to me…" Michael-Matthews said, and then paused. "Where do I know you from?"

Fox drew in a sharp intake of breath. He was the guy who'd attacked him behind the ally. Hopefully, Michael-Matthews wouldn't remember that; when he'd attacked, he'd threatened Fox's life if he'd seen him again.

"It hardly matters," Jack said from behind Michael-Matthews. "He knows about your drug activities."

"Yes, but he hardly knows the extent of them," Michael-Matthews responded with a powerful smirk. "Should I tell him?"

"If you told him, you'd have to kill him," Jack responded with a roll of her eyes. "You're pathetic, Michael."

"You know you love me," Michael-Matthews said with a simple shrug, "and the name is Matthews, not Michael."

"Right… whatever. I'm going to make dinner." With that, Jack rose, as if this were a perfectly normal occurrence, to see her husband holding a gun to someone's head.

Michael-Matthews sighed, seemingly thinking something over. "Well," he said with a tired sigh, "I was going to trade you for Alex, but I know from personal experience SAS doesn't negotiate well with hostages…" he let out a breath as he looked at Fox.

Fox drew in a sharp breath, ready to attempt to defend himself even though his hands were tied behind his back.

"But," Michael-Matthews said with a wicked grin, "I guess I could always keep you alive. I'm currently in need of someone to help me in my organization. I was waiting until Alex is older, and if I can snatch him out of his new caretaker's jaws, I will. But right now," Michael-Matthews said, grinning with a sinister smile, "I have found the perfect substitute – you."

Fox swallowed hard.

"You can begin work tomorrow," Michael-Matthews said as he smiled broadly. "The rules are: One – no talking. Two – don't do anything without permission. Three – listen to me and obey on the first command. Four – I can beat the hell out of you whenever I feel like it. And five…" he let his voice trail off, almost as if he was thinking of what to say.

Fox wasn't sure he wanted to know what the fifth rule was. "Rule five," Michael-Matthews said with a cheeky grin, "is that I can beat the hell out of you any time I feel like it."

"What if I decide I don't want to obey the rules?" Fox demanded, wondering how on earth Alex had put up with this.

"Then I'll happily shoot you," Michael said. "What's your pick?" he asked.

## break ##

A/N: So, what will Fox's choice be? That's your challenge. Stay alive, and obey all five rules, or have Michael shoot him? Bonus challenge: What is the team's lead on Fox?

Also, I'm putting you all up for a vote. I have some free time on my hands and am going to attempt to update within the next two days. (Key phrase, attempt.) You may vote on how long you want the next chapter to be. Your options are as follows. By featuring, I mean the character gets a staring role in the chapter but doesn't take over entirely. Vote for your favorite!

1000 words, featuring Alex; 2,000 words, featuring Eagle; 3,000 words, featuring Wolf, 4,000 words, featuring Fox. Make your vote in your review or send me a private message.

Enjoy!


	7. Adopted and Abducted

A/N: I have taken your votes into consideration for the word length. This chapter is short and focuses on Alex. The next one will be longer and will focus on some of the K-Unit.

## break ##

It was going to be a long day. Alex was exhausted and had retreated into himself, avoiding everyone. He couldn't bear to face Wolf, so he hid in his room. He knew that if Wolf wanted him that was the first place that he would look. Still, it was better than hiding. Michael would only beat him if he hid, but if he stayed out of the way, he was usually okay.

Alex exhaled slowly. His arm throbbed and it felt like it was on fire. The pain medication he had taken had long since worn off. His was in the backpack that he'd ever-so-conveniently left in the middle of the living room. He couldn't go after it now.

There was a knock on the door, and it opened. There was Eagle, holding his backpack. "Thought that you might be missing this," he said with a wolfish grin.

"Thanks," Alex said, surprised. He felt like he could trust Eagle more than he could trust Wolf. Perhaps it was because of the man's easygoing nature; he wasn't sure. Either way, he suspected that Eagle wouldn't hit him anytime soon, and that comforted him slightly.

"Are you hungry?" Eagle asked. He had a grin on his face that made Alex wonder what he had in store.

Alex checked his watch with a frown on his face. "Yeah, I guess," he responded with a shrug. He paused. "Wait…"

"Relax," Eagle said. He fingered his car keys thoughtfully. "We're going to go pick up pizza for everyone."

"Okay," Alex responded. It would be a good chance to get away from Wolf, even if it was only for a little while. For some reason Alex suspected that he would not be able to get away with what he pulled at his stepfather's house here.

He kept his backpack on him as he passed through the living room. Snake and Wolf were talking to a police man. Wolf was sitting on the couch.

"We'll be back," Eagle said. Alex had the feeling that he'd already cleared their mission with Wolf, because Wolf just nodded as Eagle walked out the door.

Before Alex could help himself, he asked, "You share an apartment with Wolf, right?" he questioned.

Eagle nodded as the two slid into the car. Eagle couldn't help but remember the last time they came home and hope that it would not be so bad. The last time they'd arrived in the driveway, Fox had been abducted. "Yeah," he responded. "The K-Unit decided that we wanted to live together when we were done with the SAS. We decided to get apartments and flip coins to see who would live together. Wolf and I both got heads."

Alex nodded, the next question already forming in his mind. Eagle was in a talkative mood; he was going to take advantage of it. "How long did you serve in the SAS?"

"A year," Eagle responded. "We would have served longer, but… we were in our refresher course at SAS training. Someone broke into the camp and shot me in the leg. I'm fine now but I wasn't going to get cleared for active duty. There was some other stuff going on at the time, and to make a long story short, we all decided that one year of service was enough."

Alex nodded, surprised at the answer. Wolf had worked extremely hard to get into the SAS, backing down just didn't seem like it was a very Wolf-like thing to do. Still, he knew Wolf stuck up for his team – somewhat – and guessed that Wolf felt that Eagle's treatment was unjust.

"What are we doing now?"

"Getting dinner for everyone," Eagle responded. "Nobody's really in the mood to cook, so we're just going to get something to eat. We coulda ordered in, but Wolf thought that going to pick it up would be best."

Alex just nodded.

"It's already ready," Eagle said as he checked his watch. "Do you want to come in, or…"

"I'll just stay here," Alex said.

Eagle nodded as he made his way out of the car.

## break ##

"I guess I'll do it," Fox said uncertainly. He wondered, once again, how on earth Alex had survived this.

"Good!" Michael-Matthews clapped his hands. "You can begin in the morning. Your bedroom… Well, we don't really have a spare bedroom; we're sharing an apartment with a friend right now. You can just sleep in the closet," he said with a grin. "Jack will be down with a pillow and blanket for you. Good night." He smirked as he untied Fox's hands in one fluent motion. "Oh, yeah," he said with a grin. "I know where your friends live. One stupid motion, and they're dead, you understand? D-e-a-d. I will happily go attack any one of them."

Fox swallowed hard. He didn't really like that proposition, but it wasn't like he was in much of a chance to disobey. He swallowed hard and nodded.

"Good!" With that, Fox was shoved back into the closet.

With nothing but the dark to think of, Fox's thoughts turned dark quickly. First, it was anger at Michael the social worker who had given out Alex's address. Then it was relief that Alex had not been abducted. Then it was just depression with the situation. How long would he have to put up with this?

Fox sighed as he thought about it. There really wasn't much he could do about his present situation, although he could change his attitude. He'd have to work hard to annoy Michael-Matthews. Perhaps if he was annoying enough, he could make the man loose his cool and he could overpower him. He frowned. Then again, Michael-Matthews had pretty much threatened his friends.

It was a hopeless situation. Fox would just have to wing it.

## break ##

Wolf anxiously paced his house. The police had gotten a lead on Fox, and were actively perusing it. Snake was waiting for the news channel to come on. They were all curious to know what the news had to say.

"It's on!" Snake called. Wolf came and brought a Pepsi to Snake and opened up the energy drink himself.

"Twenty-four-year-old Benjamin Daniels, a social worker for Brookwood High, was abducted today at a friends' house," the newscaster said. "He had recently removed a boy from the care of two drug users – Jack Starbright and Michael Mayhem. Michael Mayhem is believe to be armed and dangerous and should not be approached. Mayhem is wanted on two accounts of rape and assault, and on child abuse, and now kidnapping. The car that Mayhem originally used to abduct Daniels was a jeep, license plate AXYZ109, but it was discarded about twenty miles from Brookwood High. He is now believed to be in a new car, a 1970s jeep license plate Azy2010. If spotted, please call…"

"That's got to be the worst news report I ever heard. Which station did we give all the footage too?" Snake asked, his thumb on the remote.

"W10," Wolf said. He was just happy that the news was getting out about the abduction. The sooner the better, in his mind.

Snake flipped to the correct channel. He rolled his eyes as he watched the mêlée. This station gave more detailed news, with Fox's picture being shown, both in his SAS outfit and his social worker uniform.

"What was Fox last seen wearing?" Wolf asked as he looked up from the paper. He was exhausted. The police had given him the paper to fill out. They needed detailed explanations about Fox's abduction.

Snake glanced up. "Uh… blue jeans, and a red shirt," he responded. He glanced at the paper. "I'm surprised they didn't fill that out already."

"They did. They wanted a recollection from the scene, and since I'm SAS, they told me that I could fill it out myself," Wolf responded with a shrug. "Damn. I can't believe this. In the past twenty-four hours, I've adopted a kid and Fox has been abducted."

## break ##

No challenge, just review. If you're desperate, make up your own challenge, or tell me what you think of this Jack. Why is she so different? What happened to Ian? What happened to Alex's parents? This will all be coming in later chapters...


	8. No Hope Of Escape In Sleeping

_A/N: Firstly, let me say how sorry I am for not updating sooner. I've been busy, discovering a new fandom (Thunderbirds) and with schoolwork. Classes started this week and with any luck I'll start my internship next week. I really enjoy writing FanFiction, so I will continue on, but be warned, updates will be sketchy. _

_I had a couple people mention that Alex goes to Brookland Comprehensive. In the books he does. In this story, he's in a bit of a poorer neighborhood and so he goes to Brookwood High. Thanks to The Potters of the Future for pointing this out. _

_If you're waiting for an update on this and you can't wait for it to be updated, don't worry: I have other Alex Rider stories too. If you're interested in the Thunderbird or Numb3rs fandom I do have some of those stories up. Yes, this is selfless self-promotion._

**_DISCLAIMER_**_: If I owned Alex Rider I could afford to pay for MVNU instead of spending my afternoon looking for scholarships. But sadly I don't own Alex Rider. I'm just playing around in the sandbox for awhile and torturing Fox. Besides, this is **FanFiction**. *Smiles* _

_I hope you enjoy, and once more I'm sorry for the delay. Challenge is at the bottom as always. _

**Special thank yous**

**I Tripped Over Reality - for reviewing nearly every chapter; Torn Apart Dinosaur - For always leaving feedback; The Potters of The Future - for taking the time to point out my mistake; and [no user name], Ash Veran, bubzchoc, hollyblue2, scarylizzie15, NightmareWorld, Se7enFreaker, Cup-cakes are Evil, ALBANY, Nicky1992, scamp87, and fangluv for taking the time to review.**

**I'm sorry this chapter is shorter than expected, but I will update sooner to make up for it. Now read! **

## transition ##

"I'm worried about Fox," Snake said as he sat outside the white concrete porch steps. He swung his legs down so that he was sitting next to Wolf. Both were more worried about their comrade than they wanted to admit in front of Alex. After all, Alex's father had attacked Fox once before and had beaten him up pretty badly. What would happen if it was decided that Fox wasn't needed, and they decided to kill him?

Truthfully, Snake terrified more terrified of Alex's father than anything they'd faced in the SAS - probably because here they were helpless, and couldn't do anything to help Fox. And they were facing an unknown character. At least when they were being shot at, they had _some_ detail about the enemy.

_**You failed him, you failed him, you failed him**, _was the thought that was running through Snake's mind. It had been beaten into them at SAS to care for their comrade. It didn't matter if they weren't officially SAS anymore. They still were the K-Unit.

The one officer they had on guard duty leaned against his car, talking on his cell phone. Snake was glad he had picked this minute to take a break. For someone who worked a street job, he was incredibly perceptive.

"Why did they even take him? That's what really bugs me," Wolf muttered out loud. He had been the last one to speak his true emotions. Snake was slightly concerned about both him and Alex. After all, Wolf had just been granted a new teenager charge and

"They were after Alex," Snake said, albeit a bit too gruffly. He exhaled slowly, wondering what they'd gotten themselves into. "Having second thoughts?" Snake asked, knowing his comrade. He couldn't really say that he blamed Wolf for feeling bad about what happened to Fox. They _all_ did. The guilt was written all over Alex's face. Last night, he'd spent half an hour screaming that they should have just let him go because his father was going to come back and kill them all, and then kidnap Alex anyway.

Nobody had gotten much sleep last night.

"Yeah. I know there's no one else to take the kid in. But it's going to be a battle," Wolf grumbled, "and I'm just not sure I'm ready for it, emotionally _and_ physically. I mean, with the way his father treated him…" _Alex would no doubt need counseling,_ Wolf thought; _and God-knows how many other special needs services. _

"Well, you'll have the help of all of us," Snake said seriously. "And if for some reason you can't do it, I'll step in and take over. I would gladly take custody of Alex, but I'm not approved for foster care."

Wolf nodded, his face glum; his eyes tired. "But then again," he added, smiling once more as he thought about his time during the SAS, "I've never backed away from a challenge. And this will certainly be a challenge."

Snake glanced at Wolf incredulously, his voice dripping sarcasm as he spoke, his eyes staring at his comrade as if he had three heads. "You've never backed away from a challenge?"

"'Course not," Wolf responded, wondering where on earth Snake was going with this.

"Well, what about that one time with that goat when Fox was trying to convince you to get a date with an animal girl? You backed down from _that_ challenge," Snake said with a grin. Not that he minded. Anyone with half a brain would have backed down from that challenge. Fox had just been testing Wolf. Thinking of Fox sent a pang of guilt through Snake's heart that he tried to bury.

Fox wasn't dead yet. And Snake refused to believe that he was dead until he saw Fox's dead body _and _got DNA proof. Until they found bodies, this was still a search and rescue.

" 'That girl' was married and had two children!" Wolf reminded him with an incommodious look. "Seriously, I'm in no condition to raise two kids. Besides - you could smell her before you could see her. And that village had a rule that anyone who slept with someone who was married would be stoned... Remember?" he added hastily, closing his eyes as he thought about the challenges they'd had with that village. Snake had to stop someone from stoning someone else to death because of a difference in opinon over what date a barbecue should be held.

Okay, so maybe their situation wasn't so bad.

"Wouldn't have stopped you if you've never truly backed down from a challenge," Snake teased.

Wolf cuffed him on the back of his head, obviously not pleased with Snake's teasing. He wasn't so much annoyed as he just wished Fox was here as well. Hell, they all did. "Come on, let's go inside."

## transition ##

Fox was lying in the trunk of some car, his arms tightly bound behind his back. His feet were tied, and he was pretty sure he was gagged, because he couldn't speak. He was trying to work the rope, but even if he did manage to get the rope off, he'd still have to tackle the handcuffs. Still, it would be much more comfortable to have the stupid rope on his hands.

Maybe Alex's father had been the "evil overlord" warning list. Whatever the reason for his caution, Alex's father was leaving nothing to chance. There was no way that Fox saw to escape. But that didn't mean he had to take the event laying down - and so he wouldn't. He **_refused_**.

Jack had even gone on ahead on a flight, promising to "get the place ready" for them. In reality, Fox knew she was flying apart because the trio split apart would be much less likely to be separated. They wouldn't tell Fox where they were going. For the most part, he wasn't even acknowledged. The only time he was mentioned was when he was given an order. And then they called him "boy," much to Fox's distaste. Still, it was worth it to stay alive, in his mind.

Ben didn't know what their plan was, but he knew it was nothing good. In the darkness of the car's trunk, he had plenty of time to reflect. Perhaps he had too much time to reflect, Fox thought. Memories of the time Alex's father had assaulted him were coming on full-force and he couldn't seem to shake him.

Despite all of his SAS and social worker training, he was terrified. Not so much of himself, but of what would happen to Alex. That thought scared him more than anything. He regretted how he'd treated Alex in their SAS training, but there wasn't much they could do about that.

Fox sighed as he attempted to adjust his bonds to a slightly more comfortable position, but then winced as he was thrown roughly against the trunk. He was pretty sure he'd be black and blue by tomorrow morning.

Automobile trunks were so convenient until you were a passenger of one, Fox thought with a tired sigh. With no hope of escape, Fox closed his eyes, and attempted to go to sleep.

**-transition-**

Alex felt sick to his stomach as soon as Eagle left the room. He couldn't explain why he felt like he could trust Eagle. Perhaps it was because the man seemed to know what he was going through. In reality, Alex knew it was because Wolf was his guardian, and Eagle wasn't.

Plus, if Eagle was brave enough to steal Wolf's coffee… well, he _might_ be safe enough to confide in him.

_Maybe_. Just _maybe_.

Alex sighed and shuddered as he was thrown into a violent flashback.

_-Flashback-_

"_I don't know why you want to keep him!" Michael screamed at Jack, smacking her across the face. She slapped him back, angry at her treatment. Unlike Jack, Michael didn't recoil. "You better listen to me, bitch, if you want this sorry piece of shit to survive, you better take care of him. Or I'm leaving." _

_Alex was laying on the floor, having been knocked unconscious from his beating. He had just started to regain consciousness and heard 'or I'm leaving.' He prayed silently, please, Michael, leave! He and Jack would be a lot better off without Michael – even if they did have to live on welfare._

"_No, Michael, come on," Jack pleaded as she kissed him. Alex felt sick to his stomach. Jack had serious abandonment issues – she probably had a dependent personality disorder or whatever it was called. _

_And Alex was stuck in this godforsaken house until he turned eighteen. _

_Unless, he thought, he died first. _

_He wondered briefly what the SAS men he'd met at camp would do if they saw him in this situation. Probably laugh at him. The great Alex Rider is scared of a muggle! Oh, how the Harry Potter curse word seemed to describe his so-called parents perfectly._

_Alex wanted to throw up. _

"_Come on, Michael. Alex is able to take care of himself," Jack said. She sounded exhausted and Alex couldn't help but feel bad for her. The tiredness dripped through her voice, and Alex wondered how her side business was going – the one he knew was selling herself to prostitutes, but the one that was never talked about. He hoped that she'd stopped that for the time being. "Come on, Michael. You don't want him to spill your little secret to Children's Services, do you?"_

"_No," Michael muttered, staring at the pile on the floor that was Alex Rider. "But maybe I should just shoot him and put him out of his misery."_

"_You don't want that," Jack said, almost pleading now. "Come on, Mike. I'll take care of him. Let's go out to eat, okay?"_

"_Sure," Michael said finally as he left Alex in a heap on the floor. "But I want that boy's room to be used for making drugs. He can move into the guest closet."_

"_Whatever you want, dear." Jack kissed him again. _

_When they left, Alex threw up._

_-end flashback-_

Alex was shaking, remembering the memory. If Wolf knew the extent of how much he'd been abused he'd never want to help him. And Wolf – Wolf might want him for other reasons. There was no reason to believe that Wolf had taken Alex in out of the goodness of his heart, right?

Then, before he knew it, someone was there next to him. Probably Snake. "Easy, Alex," the man said. "Breathe, just breathe." Alex was still shaking, and he clung to the stranger, taking several gulps of fresh air in an attempt to calm himself down. It wasn't working. He had to force himself to inhale sharply and to exhale. He had to force himself not to throw up, and that was a battle.

Hell, breathing was a battle.

Snake had a churning feeling in his stomach that just wouldn't go away. If this was how Alex was reacting to being abused… what would happen to Fox, Michael's sworn enemy?

**## transition ##**

A/N: If you read this far, you've obviously liked it at least a little bit. Please tell me what you liked and didn't like, and feel free to leave a review.

Also, the term, "until we find dead bodies, this is still a search and rescue" belongs to numb3rs. Don Eppes spoke it when looking for someone.


	9. Surprise Revelations

A/N: Gasp! Is it? Yes, it is! An update! Terribly sorry for the wait time, but here you go now...

## break ##

Alex made it clear in the upcoming days that he hated Wolf. When Wolf and Snake were away, talking to the sergeant for some advice, he set Wolf's t-shirt on fire. Admittedly, Wolf wasn't sure whether that was accidental or intentional, but was enough to unnerve Eagle so much that he vowed to give up smoking. After calming Alex down from the incident, Eagle spent the remainder of the time locking up the lighters and cursing Wolf for leaving him alone with _his_ charge.

Not that Eagle blamed Wolf for being nervous about the situation. He sure as hell was and he wasn't the one who was the legal guardian of the kid. Once Eagle was satisfied that Alex wasn't going to take off, he settled himself on the living room couch and closed his eyes.

How long would it be until Wolf and Snake got back?

The answer was: very soon. Wolf and Snake were back within a half hour, and both looked exhausted. "What's the news?" Eagle asked, getting up from his spot on the couch. Not even his 5-hour energy drink was going to give him enough energy to get through the day.

Wolf slumped in his seat and was silent a minute before speaking up. Snake also remained silent, as if he knew what Wolf was going to say and didn't also want to speak it. "MI6 is coming over," Wolf finally said, "Crawly is going to talk to us about 'the situation'," he added with quote marks.

"Oh, come on," Snake responded, his face flushed. He finally sank down into the chair and closed his eyes. "Tell them the other information, Wolf."

"MI6 is after Alex's father, too," Wolf responded. He placed his empty Pepsi bottle on the brown table in the middle of the room. He checked his watch, as if he really cared about what time it was or something other than the information that he was about to give. "He was originally from America, like Jack. Jack found him shortly after Ian's death. Get this – Michael was involved with Scorpia."

Eagle's mouth dropped open. Scorpia! That was a big criminal name. No wonder why Michael hadn't wanted his little secret to be revealed. He knew, however, from the passive look on Wolf's face that there was more information that he wasn't giving. "Spill," Eagle ordered, "just tell it all to me."

"It gets even better. Ash – that's Alex's godfather, by the way – was the one who originally recruited Michael. It turns out that Cub was really at SAS training for a mission. Yeah, fifteen years old and being sent on missions? I don't think that should have even happened, but it did." Wolf exhaled slowly, trying to let out his anger before he took it out on his comrades. "Fucking bastards blackmailed him, used his situation against him – _they knew he was being abused!"_

"You know he was fourteen, then, right?" Snake asked as he glanced at Wolf in amusement. Wolf may have hated the kid at camp, but he'd completely turned himself around now. Well, okay, maybe not completely turned himself around, he thought, thinking of the conversation with Wolf he'd had in the car.

_Flashback_

"_I'm not ready to adopt this kid," Wolf muttered darkly, his eyes glancing at the road. It was hard to drive in the rain in the United Kingdom. Wolf loathed it and wondered mildly if it was this difficult to drive in the rain in other parts of the world. "I'm not letting him back in the hands of his parents, don't get me wrong. But I guess all my little alarm bells are going off, especially with the situation with MI6 – I don't even know how they're involved, but I guess we'll find out," Wolf retorted angrily as he punched the steering wheel. A horn blared and Wolf got a glare and a finger from one of the nearby drivers._

_Snake hoped he wouldn't have to restrain his friend from punching the other man's lights out._

"_I know, Wolf," he responded. He knew they were close to the Royal & General bank, which was not, actually, of course, a bank. It was the MI6's hideout. Snake personally wondered how hard it would be to burn it down, and then reminded himself that they obviously did some good. They hadn't gotten in trouble with the prime minister yet. Snake considered this fact. Would it be worth getting in trouble with the prime minister to burn down MI6? No, probably not, he thought with a tired sigh. That wouldn't go over very well and he would be lucky to be executed._

_Oh wait, the United Kingdom didn't believe in death penalties. "We're all here for you, though," he added. "Look, we're all pissed off about Fox. Even Alex is – you know that."_

"_Is that why he set fire to my shirt last night?" Wolf responded, his eyes not deterring from the road to glare at Snake. Snake was personally grateful for this; Wolf's glares could make most other men crumple. Even Eagle occasionally shrunk under Wolf's glare – no physical harm was needed._

_That was probably better anyway. It would mean less incident reports that they had to fill out at the SAS._

_Exhaling slowly, Snake sighed. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out. Maybe MI6 can tell us something," he added as they turned into the parking lot._

_End flashback_

"So the question is," Eagle responded, feeling very nervous, "What do we do now?"

Wolf thought for a minute, thinking back to their time at camp. Fox always had been on the SAS mans' good side. Maybe they could use that to their advantage. "We need to contact the SAS and the sergeant," he responded finally. "We need someone with more power than us to make thigns happen."

Snake nodded in agreement. Maybe the sergeant would be able to help them take MI6 down a peg.

It was then when Alex Rider let out a bloodcurdling scream from his room.

## break ##

Fox was exhausted. He'd barely slept since his capture. He didn't know how long it had been since his capture - he'd lost track of the days - but he'd survived only on ten minute naps since Micheal had first shoved him into the car. The longest time he'd slept was the time when he was when he'd been knocked out. Michael-Matthews hadn't let him out of his sight very much. Whatever he'd drugged him with was also working extremely well, Fox felt like his thoughts were muddled, his sense of time was distorted, and that his sense of reality was probably being distorted as well.

"Well, well, well," Michael responded as he sent a sick grin to Fox. Fox inwardly groaned, the man was probably back for some more torture, or something. "Guess what I found out?"

Fox didn't respond, having the learned the first day that rising to Michael's bait was a great way to be beaten.

"Alan Blunt is on his way here," Michael-Matthews continued. "He has some… stuff he wants to discuss with us."

This revelation sent Fox reeling. Alan Blunt was in on it with Michael-Matthews? He felt sick to his stomach.

"Oh, yeah," Michael-Matthews continued. "Don't bother trying to escape. Some friends of mine planted a bomb in that K-Unit flat of mine. Your comrades are dead."

All that Fox could think was, _what?_ as he was grabbed and dragged into the closet. He didn't even try and fight the darkness that surrounded him this time.

## break ##

Your challenge: How long until I update this one again? Sorry for neglecting it; life hit me. Thanks for all your reviews. In all seriousness, your next challenge:

How is Alan Blunt involved with Michael-Matthews, Fox's captor and Alex's stepfather?


	10. MI6: Not Exactly Honest

A/N: Look! It's been less than a month since I updated. It's even been less than two weeks! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

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><p>Alex felt sick to his stomach as he overheard Wolf and Snake talk in the living room. He swore softly as he overheard Wolf's comment.<p>

_"Fucking bastards blackmailed him, used his situation against him –__they knew he was being abused!"_ Wolf said, much to Alex's fear. They had contacted MI6. Shit. That meant that Wolf was really digging into his background. But why? Why did Wolf care enough to do that? Michael, his guardian, had said that nobody would ever care about him, and if they did, it was because they had an ulterior motive.

Alex's stomach curdled as he thought about what Wolf's "ulterior motive" could possibly be. He knew all too well what Michael meant. To Michael, ulterior meant _way beyond what is normal, they want something from you, and you're going to give it to them, damn-it_. How many times had Michael told him those words?

Giving up on listening to Wolf and Snake, Alex retreated hastily to his room. He had to get out of there, but how? He sank to his bed, his fingers lacing the blue sheets. Wolf had told Alex not to worry about the blankets and clothes he had there, that they had been Joe's, his brothers'.

"_Won't Joe mind me using them?" Alex had asked. He had clutched at his book bag nervously, looking at the pants. The last time he had used something of Michael's, Michael had taken his arm and pressed it against the stove. _

"_He's dead," Wolf had told Alex expressionlessly. He'd then left Alex alone in the room._

Swallowing hard, Alex realized in horror what must have happened to Joe. Had Wolf injured him in some way? Had the blank look on Wolf's face not been because of remorse, but because Wolf had done something and felt guilty about it?

"Damn it!" Alex hissed, punching the ugly shaded brown dresser with his hand. He winced as he saw the blood on his hand. He had to get out of there, and he had to find Fox. He knew that Fox was bound by the laws of the state as a social worker. He knew that Fox had tried to intervene and had been hurt because of it. Maybe he could trust Fox, maybe.

But Fox had been captured by Alex's stepfather, Michael. Tears ran down Alex's face, and the blond-haired teenage boy didn't bother trying to hide them. He brought his knees together, and gently rested his head on them. _It was his fault that Fox had been kidnapped, _Alex thought grimly. Why had Joe died? What had happened to Joe? That was still the biggest wild card. If Joe had died for some little crime, what would happen to Alex, who was the reason Wolf's friend and comrade – who Wolf no doubt cared about more than Alex – was missing?

"I've got to get out of here," Alex muttered. He fingered the zipper on his jacket, an idea coming to him. Zipping up the jacket, he quickly searched the room. There was twenty dollars that Eagle had left sitting on his bed. Yes, he was in Eagle's room. He had wanted to hide out from Wolf, and knew that the first place Wolf would check if he wanted to find Alex was the room he had assigned to Alex.

_Flashback_

_Wolf just shrugged as he made his way into the apartment. "This will be your room here," he said to Alex. When he had decided to purchase the flat with Eagle, they'd gotten a three-bedroom house so that the K-Unit could come and visit occasionally. He didn't realize he'd gotten it for Alex's stay. He mused over the fact of whether or not that contributed in MI6's decision to write him down as Alex's guardians._

_"Come on, where am I really sleeping?" Alex said, his sudden sneer a surprise to Wolf. "You can tell me now. Mike's left. Besides, he won't even care."_

_"What do you mean by that?" Eagle asked. He appeared to be just as surprised and as clueless as Wolf._

_Alex snorted and looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Foster kids don't get a whole room to themselves," he responded with a shrug. "If we do, it's for show and they stick the kid in the basement. So, come on – where am I really sleeping?"_

_End flashback _

Eagle had stepped up, telling him about how he had his stuff in the basement and didn't think Alex would find it comfortable. Alex rolled his eyes. He didn't really care. It was nice to get a real room for a change, but that time was over. He had to leave, now, before something happened.

He smiled as he saw matches that Eagle had left on his bed. He grabbed them, a plan instantly coming to mind.

* * *

><p>Wolf sighed as he added the finishing touches on the dinner. Snake had gone to his apartment that he shared with Fox, prepared to follow up on a few leads they had generated on their own. Snake was really into technology, and thought he might be able to use some computer program he'd invented to help with the leads for Fox.<p>

Eagle had come back, and he as hungry. He'd volunteered to make dinner, but since Eagle's hamburgers tasted like three-month-old steak or worse, Wolf had volunteered himself to cook. He sighed as he shoved the burgers around in the pan, thinking about the current situation. He wasn't sure how ready he was to handle full-time custody of Alex. He knew without a doubt that he'd screw up, but hey; that was okay, everyone could make mistakes. Still, that wasn't it. He couldn't explain the uneasy feeling that had settled in his gut that screamed _something bad was going to happen_.

"Alex!" Wolf heard Eagle cry. Dropping the black spatula instantly, Wolf moved towards the door where Eagle was. "Damn it!" he cried. "Wolf!" he shouted once more. "We need some water!"

"Water?" Wolf hollered back.

Eagle came bursting out. "I don't know where Alex is. Someone set some blankets on fire in my bedroom," he said as he grabbed a bucket and used the sink sprayer to fill it up quickly. Wolf quickly went to the phone. "No, don't bother dialing 9-1-1; it's not that bad. And no, I didn't do it by myself this time!"

Wolf followed Eagle to the man's bedroom, watching as the former SAS member dumped the bucket of water on his bed. "Damn it," Eagle hissed as he looked at the ruined formerly blue covers that were now etched in shades of black, "I liked those."

Resisting the urge to smack Eagle on the back of the head for sounding like a girl, Wolf closed his eyes and leaned back against the door. "Wait!" he said, a sudden thought occurring to him. "Where the hell is Alex?"

"You don't think…" Eagle said, his mouth dropping open in horror. "What if this was just a distraction? What if he's trying to run?"

"Why the hell would he do that?" Wolf grumbled as he made his way out of the room. "Where the hell would he even _go_?" he added to no-one in particular as he raced towards Alex's room. "Alex! Where are you?" he called, hoping his voice would raise throughout the house.

Wolf sighed as he pulled open the brown door, praying that he wouldn't plummet Alex into the ground when he saw him.

When he opened the door and quickly surveyed the room, he realized that there would be no reason to.

Alex was gone.

* * *

><p>How long had he been missing?<p>

A week?

Three days?

Two days?

It had to have been more than 24 hours since his capture. Not for the first time, Fox desperately wished for a watch. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against his bent knees. He was so tired…

"Don't sleep on my watch," Michael Matthews growled as he grabbed Fox by the arm and roughly shoved him into the wall. Fox winced, blinking as the pain brought him back to reality. He groaned as the nauseated feeling returned. "Not when you have someone else to care for," he added.

That statement brought Fox entirely back to reality. "What?" he asked, raising his eyes at Michael, forgetting the punishment for that.

He remembered all too instantly. "Don't look me in the face!" Matthew growled, shoving him onto the red carpet. Fox closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. "You think you're better than me, punk? Well, I got news for you. I got a buyer lined up for you. I'm thinking about just selling you. After all, you can make good money off of human beings." Matthew laughed evil at his own joke. "But for right now, you can have a use," he said.

It took all Fox's willpower not to throw up at that last statement. He had a _use_? What was he – a robot? And he was going to be sold?

"You can care for Alex Rider," the man said, nodding at his partner-in-crime, who shoved Alex down on the floor next to Fox. "Enjoy," he sneered as he walked towards the door. A second thought hit him. "If you try him out, let me know how he tastes," he added.

With that, Alex Rider leaned on his knees and threw up in the wastebasket.

* * *

><p>Challenge: How did Michael capture Alex Rider? Will Fox and Alex ever be rescued - or will they be sold? Let me know what you think!<p> 


	11. Open Your Mouth So I Can Sell You

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoy the update! Thank NightMareWorld. I asked her which of my AR stories she'd like to see updated, and she picked this one. See - no two weeks for an update.

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><p>Alex heaved the remaining contents of his stomach into the black wastebasket. He felt, understandably, like crap. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall as he counted to ten silently.<p>

"Thank you, Tahoma." Matthews smiled at his partner, who had entered the room. Tahoma was a man, about 6'5, with brown hair. He wore sunglasses that hid his eyes.

"You're welcome." Tahoma nodded towards Fox. "I understand these two can be a package deal, yes?"

"I believe I already informed you of that." Matthews seemed unsettled that Tahoma was even asking. "They can also be sold separately. I care a little more about the teenager than I do about the other dude… but only a little."

"What's the 'other dude's name?" Tahoma said. He pointed at Fox. "Stand up," he ordered. Fox stood up, trying to ignore the fear that went thump, thump, thump within his gut. "Open your mouth," he said.

_No way in hell, _Fox thought, clenching his teeth.

Tahoma sighed as he looked at Matthews. "This one doesn't do what he's asked to, does he?" It wasn't a question but a statement of the fact.

"No," Matthews responded with a pouty frown. "I figure that will either hurt or help his selling price – depending upon who I sell him too."

"In the olden days, they used to make slaves open their mouth to assess how tough they were," Tahoma informed Fox. "You can sit. I have some… business to work out with Mr. Matthews."

* * *

><p>Eagle and Wolf were sitting down at dinner when the knock on the door came. Snake was the first one to answer it, and he led Crawly inside. "Someone has something to say to us," he said with a sneer as he dropped down to the brown dinner table Wolf and Eagle were sitting at.<p>

"Indeed, I do." Crawly shuffled around his papers. "We have a lead on your friend, Fox, and on Alex Rider. Now, I wasn't told by Blunt – which one of you took over custody of Alex Rider?"

"I did, sir," Wolf responded.

"Here's what's going on," Crawly responded, without preamble. "We've found Michael and Jack. They're both dead."

Wolf's mouth dropped open in shock. Michael and Jack, Cub's parents, well, not his real parents, were dead? "What?" he stuttered.

"We had a tip after a law enforcement officer called us in their house. They had both been shot, twice to the chest. After talking with the law enforcement officers, we learned that they believed that Alex Rider and Fox – they didn't know their names, of course – were taken by a young criminal named Tahoma."

"I thought Tahoma was a font," Eagle pseudo-whispered.

Crawly glared at Eagle briefly before ignoring him. "We have linked Tahoma with a small town close to here, actually, quite close to where Alex Rider used to live. You know of his school, Brookwood? It is about twenty miles south of there. It's in the side of town where people would say 'this is the wrong side of the tracks.' Wolf, I know you have company where Alex used to live. Remember how you can't park your car in that neighborhood without it getting stolen? This neighborhood is worse. There are no police that service the area, no firefighters, no nothing. The last time someone sent a SWAT team in, two of the members were shot."

Wolf blanched at that news. When someone shot SWAT… well, they were just psychopathic at that point. "But that's where you think Fox and Alex are?" he asked, a little nervously.

Crawly nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. We've had confirmed sightings by one of our undercover men who lives in that area that Tahoma has been by there, and that he had someone who looked like Alex Rider accompanying him. However, the gentleman isn't certain enough for us to risk sending a SWAT team in, especially with what happened after the last raid."

"So you're just going to let them sit there, hurting?" Eagle exploded. He really hated the MI6.

"I did not say that," Crawly responded. He glanced at Wolf. "You're going to work harder on having him control his temper, if this plan is going to work."

"What do you mean by that?" Wolf responded. "Eagle controls his own temper just fine." _Except when he's in the presence of MI6, and who can really blame him then_? Wolf thought. Even _he _had trouble controlling his temper in front of MI6.

"We have worked it out with the undercover agent and established you some identities. We can go in with the world's biggest SWAT team, unfortunately, that won't do us any good, because we may end up arresting Alex and Fox if the situation doesn't go well, and we may end up killing them if the situation ends badly. We have one agent in there, but we need agents in there who know the men to remove them. Men who can contact us with information, to give us the upper hand. Are you interested?

Wolf glanced from Snake to Eagle, who both nodded yes silently. "We want to know more," Wolf responded. That was about as close as Crawly would get without them getting more information.

"We have three undercover agents who were supposed to go in," Crawly responded, "but they were all killed in a bombing a week ago. Now, however, we can put you in the profiles. You're all close enough matches, it will be fine. Wolf, you and Snake will be together, so to speak."

It took Snake seconds to realize what that meant. "Wait, together as in…"

"Yes," Crawly responded with an exaggerated roll of his eyes, "together as in gay. No, you won't have to actually do anything together. Just act like you do. That's our excuse for you living together."

"Wouldn't it be easier for them just to share a house?" Eagle responded wearily. Somehow, if that was Wolf's and Snake's part, he really didn't think he was going to like his.

"That was the undercover story we had for the other agents. You'll see why in the files. Are you done interrupting now?" Crawly asked, his voice slightly bitter. He turned to Wolf. "Eagle will be your slave."

"What!" Eagle said, nearly spitting out the Coke he'd just taken a sip of. "No way. No way in…"

"Eagle," Wolf replied with a wave of his hand, "just sit down, okay?" He glanced at Crawly. "Continue, please."

"Eagle matches the picture of the man who was going to play the slave identically," Crawly responded, opening up his file. "These men could have been twin brothers – it's creepy. It will be the easiest for Eagle to play the spot, especially since they've already seen the picture. You will be dropped off at a hotel nearby there in two days, and our agent will be moving you from that hotel. Everything you need to know is in those files. I'm assuming you're going to do it, at this point."

"I don't think we really have much of a choice," Snake spoke up. Now he knew how Alex Rider felt.

"Good," Crawly responded, getting up from the table. "I'll leave these here with you. I'll show myself out. Oh, by the way," he added, "you'll need to pack up enough materials to move to a new place. The files will explain more. And I recommend that you start treating Eagle as though he is a slave now, especially in public. Assume your new roles. The information sheets will give you all you need."

"Great," Wolf said as Crawly left. They heard the door bang shut. Suddenly, Wolf's face brightened. "Hey," he said, turning towards Snake, "Does this mean I can finally make Eagle be quiet?"

"I really hate this," Eagle muttered as he opened the file. "Look, here's the information that they have on Fox and Alex… and a summary."

"Read it out loud," Wolf said anxiously.

_Alex Rider and Benjamin Daniels were believed to have been spotted yesterday, on 8/29/09. __However, I was not able to get close to them enough to spot them. I have talked with Tahoma, who is the leader of the ring. He says he is 'disappointed' that my men have not gotten here yet. Reinforcements are needed. We need someone to match that slave picture identically, if at all possible. _

"That's all that's in our file," Eagle said, disappointed, as he turned to the other information. "That explains why they chose us, I guess. We're a fast solution."

"You should go take this and read it in your room," Wolf responded. He handed Eagle the largest file. "I don't know what all the slaves' rules will entail, but I'm thinking that they probably won't be good. Sorry, mate."

"Well, if we find Fox, it will be worth it." Eagle departed from the table, taking the folders, his unease growing.

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><p>Challenge:<p>

1. How soon will our heroes move to their new "home?"

2. How will Eagle be treated, as Wolf and Snake's "slave"?

Read and review!


	12. Learning How To Shop

A/N: Wow, can you believe it? Not just one, but two updates in less than two weeks! Wow! I must have free time again

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><p>It was going to be a long day, Wolf thought as he tiredly opened the door. He had just gotten back from grocery shopping at the local store. It was alright, he supposed. It just wasn't what he was used to. It had taken him nearly an hour to shop for three people. He supposed that he could have just forced Eagle to do it, but despite all appearances, he didn't want to take advantage of his friend. Besides, it was as good as an excuse as any to get out of the house.<p>

Wolf sighed as he unlocked the door, walked into the kitchen, and put the groceries on the counter. It was such an easy, mundane task – why was it exhausting? He didn't know. He closed his eyes as he sank into the chair and buried his face in his hands.

He was awoken half an hour later with a gentle shake by Snake, who looked rather amused. "Eagle put all the groceries away, Jacob. Sleep well?" Wolf blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Had he really been so tired that he had slept at the kitchen table for half an hour? Damn. Maybe his body was trying to tell him something.

"Really?" Wolf asked, looking at the now empty-table, the bags that were secured in one of the drawers. "Wow. I was that out?"

Snake chuckled. "Yeah, you were that out. I think you should crash before the meeting tonight." They had a set-up meeting with Tahoma, who was going to fill them in on some information in the neighborhood. Their mission goal: to get Fox and Alex out, _and_ to get enough other information so that SWAT and other teams could raid the location.

"Yeah, I think I'll do just that, _Jason_," Wolf said with a teasing grin. They were making a point to use their false names as much as possible, so as not to slip up. Admittedly, it was hard not to slip into their old role reversal of "Wolf" and "Snake." Wolf was grateful that they'd worked Eagles' cover story so that they could use his code name. It made the situation a little bit easier.

* * *

><p>Snake watched as Wolf went to bed. He followed Wolf, but went into the adjourning room. Although he and Wolf technically shared a room, they both slept in other rooms. Although neither Wolf nor Snake had a problem with people who were gay, they just weren't quite ready to go quite that far in their roles yet.<p>

Snake gently lay down on the bed, feeling quite grateful he wasn't in Eagle's position. Eagle was still unpacking their belongings from the move. He'd at least been nice and told Eagle to "take his time." He sighed as he opened the white manila folder that contained his life.

_Alias: Jason White_

_Legal History: Drug user (preferred drug(s): Adderall XR, Cocaine, Methamphetamine). Arrested twice for illegal possession of cocaine, charged once with felony kidnapping of a minor (own child). Arrested three times for domestic violence, but no charges were ever filed. Currently out on probation (5 years). _

_Background: Mother was a drug user and committed suicide at age 15. Father was shot by SWAT officers at age 20. Married a wife, briefly (name Joanna). Had one son (named Daniel). Divorced wife after three years of marriage. Joanna won full custody of Daniel. Angry at the world, Jason tried to abduct Daniel to make Joanna come back. He succeeded and had Daniel for about two days, then was arrested for kidnapping a minor and possession of cocaine. Charges were pressed. In jail, decided he liked men and announced that he was bisexual. Current dating partner: Jacob Murphy. _

Mentally skimming the rest of his history, Snake was amused. MI6 might be deplorable to work with, but they certainly were through. The background, for all he had known, could have indeed been his own background. The goal of MI6 was to make him look like he could fit in the criminal world without any problem.

He flipped to Wolf's profile. He didn't totally understand their history, and why MI6 had chosen… that cover for them, but he supposed it made sense. He and Wolf didn't pass for close enough to be brothers, and someone just living together and moving the same house might be questioned. This would make sense, though. He shrugged and glanced at Wolf's profile.

_Alias: Jacob Murphy _

_Legal History: Arrested for two counts of child assault, two counts of robbery, and three counts of kidnapping. Tried and found innocent for one robbery charge. One robbery charge never went through. Currently wanted for a charge of aggravated assault, although a warrant was not served. Never served prison time. _

_Background: Father and mother died in a car wreck at age two. Spent six years in foster care in 9 different homes. At age 10, was adopted; at age 11, set fire to foster brothers' bed. Removed from home… _

After flipping through Wolf's information, and finding that he did remember it correctly, Snake turned to Eagle's file. After he read through it once more, he was going to shred the information and then destroy it. They couldn't risk having their cover stories just laying out like this.

_Alias: __Troy Peterson_

_Legal history: None _

_Background: Sold into slavery at age 10 by an abusive father. Ran away at age 12 and put in foster care until age 16. At age 16, found by father again and sold once more. Sold too…_

Eagle's false background was perhaps the most extensive of all three, Snake thought as he re-read it. It was also the one they probably needed to know the least. Eagle, after all, wasn't allowed to speak. It had been one of the many rules in his book. Snake exhaled forcefully and took the list of what Eagle was and wasn't allowed to do out of the folder and then made his way to the shredder, putting each piece of information in the shredder, one sheet of paper at a time.

It was going to be a long night

* * *

><p>Eagle wasn't very happy. He knew that Snake and Wolf were doing their best to treat him like a human being, but they knew what his rules said, and they had to follow those first. He sighed as he took off his thrift-store shoes and collapsed on his bed. Before they were able to go undercover, he'd had to go to the thrift store and invest in worn clothes. He wasn't allowed to have anything that looked remotely like Wolf's or Snake's clothes. Admittedly, he was slightly jealous. Wolf and Snake had to shop at American Eagle and Gap and those sorts of stores. Only slightly jealous, though. He still sort-of preferred his role to theirs.<p>

Tonight was when the mysterious Tahoma would finally introduce himself. Eagle, of course, was supposed to be in his room. He knew that the trio would be in his room at some point, but other than that, he would be virtually ignored.

After spending the entire day unpacking, Eagle couldn't help but feel that being ignored sounded like a really good thing right now. After all, he'd just spent the entire day unpacking.

Snake came in the room and handed Eagle a TV dinner. "Here," he said. He glanced at Eagle's room, offering his comrade an amused smile when he saw it clean. "You won't get beaten tonight because you cleaned up," he added. With that, he left the room.

Eagle sighed as he idly picked at his dinner. Well, that was something, he guessed.

_Fox, _he thought, _we'd better be able to find you soon…_

And he knew the "fun" was just beginning.

* * *

><p>Challenge: Will Wolf have to take any of his "preferred" drugs to be accepted into the group? Will Eagle be able to escape meeting Tahoma without being beaten? And where are Alex and Fox? The story continues... Thanks for your reviews!<p> 


	13. Visitors, Crack, and Guns

**Oh my! It is an update!**

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><p>Tahoma arrived late that evening and introduced himself by opening the door and allowing himself and his accompanying slave in. Snake, who had been watching television at the time, had drawn his weapon and aimed before he remembered that they were entering the neighborhood.<p>

"Coming down a crack high, there?" Tahoma teased trendily as Snake offered a sheepish grin, pocketed the weapon, and offered a handshake. Snake offered a glance at his accompanying slave. In another life, she could have been Tahoma's daughter. She looked to be about fifteen, had straight blond hair, and wore a simple pair of blue jeans and black t-shirt.

"You could say that," Snake growled. He offered a sheepish grin. "Sorry, in our old neighborhood, people knocked. I guess old habits die hard."

"It's quite alright," Tahoma responded. "It hasn't been the first time, and it won't be the last, either. Is your partner here?"

"Yeah," Snake replied. "Hang on a second, I think he's finishing up dinner."

"You don't require your slave to do that?" Tahoma asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

"When we're not having visitors, Eagle does that," Snake responded, "But since Jacob actually likes to cook, he does it for visitors." He paused. "Jacob? Tahoma's here!"

"Hang on a second!" Wolf yelled back, and Snake could hear the water running in the kitchen. The water stopped, and two seconds later, Wolf came out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel.

"You're gay," Snake responded, snatching the towel and moving towards the laundry room with it. "Why bother with drying your hands?"

"Excuse my partner's behaviors," Wolf responded, shaking Tahoma's hand. "Hi, I'm Jacob. Jason hasn't had his dose of legalized speed yet today. Although it's not very legal for him," he added the last part under his breath.

Tahoma chuckled. "Don't worry, we are all friends here," he responded. He glanced at his slave. "Do you have a spot where Tesaki can sit while we chat? I'd like to discuss some things with you without worrying about her trying to take off. She's an AWOL risk," he added, glaring at her.

"Oh, ours is, too," Wolf responded with a roll of his eyes. That had been one of the things in Eagle's profile. "We're still kind of new on the whole thing."

"Trust me, you'll get used to it."

Snake came back from the laundry room. "She can stay with Eagle," he offered, looking at the slave. "I'll take her upstairs."

"Eagle is your slave, correct?" Tahoma asked, looking at Snake.

"Yeah," Snake responded, pointing upstairs. "Want to meet him?"

"I may as well," Tahoma responded. Teskai glared at Tahoma's back, and followed Snake and Tahoma up the stairs. Wolf returned to the kitchen, setting out Snake's Adderall dose on the counter with a can of Mountain Dew. It was mostly for show, to let Tahoma see a little bit of their "criminal" activity. Setting the table for three, Wolf dished out ample sizes of the spaghetti. The meal would be… interesting, to say the least.

* * *

><p>Eagle was lying on his bed, reading a book, when Snake came in. Eagle quickly dropped the book, flustered, and made a move to grab it before he lost his page number, but it was too late. He slid off the bed in his efforts.<p>

"This is Eagle," Snake responded, gesturing towards Eagle, who hadn't bothered to pull himself up. "His real name is Dylan, but we don't bother to call him that."

Tahoma chuckled. "I don't bother to call my slaves by their real name, either. It's so cumbersome. I'm sorry, this is Tesaki," he said, pointing at her. "Not that it really matters," he added to her. "Don't think yourself special."

She responded by rolling her eyes once Tahoma turned back towards Snake. "Are these Eagle's posters?"

Snake shrugged. "He had them when we moved in, and I didn't see anything wrong with letting him keep them."

Teskai moved to sit down one of Eagle's brown chairs. After half a year of slavery, she was used to sitting down wherever Tahoma was.

"The problem with posters, decorations, and personal items is that slaves tend to think themselves special when they have them," Tahoma responded. "I know that her sister, Kitai, thought she was special because she had a picture of her sister and her together. Needless to say, I destroyed that. If Eagle is an awol risk, then maybe it's because you're giving him too many freedoms," he said, glaring at Eagle.

"I never thought of it that way," Snake responded, glaring at Eagle. He felt bad, because he'd wanted Eagle to be able to have a little freedom, so he'd allowed his friend to go out and buy some used posters. Now it looked like it had been a bad idea.

"It's quite alright. Like you said, you're new to the whole thing." Tahoma smiled evilly, looking at Eagle. "Tell you what," he added, "if you take Tesaki downstairs for a few minutes, I can solve the whole problem for you."

Snake looked at Eagle, and then responded, "Sure," before going downstairs. Teskai followed him, and sat at the kitchen table.

"Your drugs are there," Wolf responded, pointing his finger at the Mountain Dew and the white napkin. Snake nodded his thanks, opened the Mountain Dew, and swallowed down the three Adderall. He was legally allowed to take Adderall, anyway, so he knew the common side affects. He just wasn't used to taking it in such high doses.

But appearances were appearances.

Wolf winced when he heard Eagle's cry from upstairs. "What happened now? I thought we told him not to make too much – if any – noise this evening," he said, glaring suspiciously at Snake.

"Tahoma said that Eagle's probably going AWOL because we let him have personal posters and stuff like that," Snake responded. "He said he'd take care of it, so I offered to let him. Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?"

Wolf rolled his eyes. Two minutes later, Tahoma was back downstairs. With one glare at Tesaki, she went back upstairs to where Eagle had been.

"Now," Tahoma said, after he'd washed his hands, "Dinner."

* * *

><p>"So, I heard through the grapevine that you're into Adderall, speed, crack cocaine, and other stuff," Tahoma responded.<p>

"Yeah," Snake replied. He knew that his drug habits would come up eventually, so he'd done a lot of research on the drugs to make sure he sounded knowledgeable. "I usually don't take crack and the other stuff; usually I just keep to adderall. But that was because in my old neighborhood, the police were pretty, well, they looked for any excuse to hate on drug users."

"Oh, yeah," Wolf said, chiming in with his two cents. "I remember having to rescue you from the cop who tried to bust you for having narcotics on your person. What'd you have, just two ounces of marijuana?"

Snake rolled his eyes. "Hey, listen, just because you don't currently use any drugs doesn't mean that there are not those of us that do."

"What can I say?" Wolf responded, standing up and walking to the fridge. HE pulled out another beer. "I'm more of an alcohol kinda guy. And I _will_ do drugs on occasion .Just not as much as you," he said.

"Sorry, I can't help it if I'm addicted to illegal substances," Snake retorted. He turned back to Tahoma. "I'm sorry, you were talking. Continue on."

"Recently, my adderall and speed branch has really taken off. I'm getting a lot of business – more business than I can handle," he said. "It's a good business that I want to keep up. Right now, most of my operatives are busy, but I have a few slaves who can help with it. I was wondering if you'd be interested in taking over it, Jason?" he asked, looking Snake directly in the eyes.

"Sure," Snake replied. It looked like they were getting in deeper, which was good. "I would need to know how you do your doses, of course, but I'm extremely interested."

"It would be a good way for you to get your adderall and speed for free," Tahoma teased. "Currently, I'm thinking that your slave, Eagle, and Tesaki and her sister, Kitai, will be the key players. I did just purchase another twenty-something and a fifteen year old boy, so they'll probably be helping you too."

"I'm excited," Snake responded, taking a bite of his food.

"And, Jacob," Tahoma sad, "I have a job for you, too, if you're interested."

"I'm all ears," Wolf responded, turning directly towards Tahoma.

* * *

><p>Challenge:<p>

What will Wolf's job be?

Will the twenty-something and the fifteen year old that Tahoma just purchased be Fox and Alex, or someone else?

Here's a little bit of interesting information: Tesaki and Kitai are Alex Rider Fanfiction authors. Of course, those are not their actual pen names. So – who are the authors in the story? Guess!

I promise to update sometime next week over break.


	14. Roll With the Physical Punches

"He really did a number on you, didn't he?" Teskai asked softly as she looked at Eagle. The posters that had once been on his wall were now torn down. Two were in the trash. The other one was in tattered remains on the floor.

Eagle dropped the shirt he was holding up and spun around. He had expected a little warning before someone else walked in there. He guessed that Tesaki would be spending the evening with him while Wolf and Snake got to have dinner with Tahoma. At least he'd gotten to eat a sandwich, so that was something.

"What business is it of yours?" he growled. He _knew_ why Snake had let Tahoma beat him. They all needed to look authentic. If Snake had called off Eagle's beating, they'd have looked suspicious. It just hurt to have his friend – no, his team mate –walk away and allow him to be beaten by a total stranger, all for the damn crime of just having posters up, which Snake had _said_ he could have up in the first place. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He couldn't think like that.

"I was just askin'," Tesaki said, sitting down on the chair in Eagle's bedroom, watching him pick up the rest of his shredded poster.

Eagle dumped the rest of the posters into the trash, and then sat on his bed again. "Great. That should make Jason happy," he said, careful to use Snake's code name. "He didn't even want to see me at all tonight." He didn't want to act like a slave, but he had to. It would probably look better on them all if Eagle seemed a little too submissive. Especially after his beating.

"How long have you been a slave, anyway?" Teskai asked. At Eagle's glance, she quickly amended. "Get used to making owners mad, dude. It happens. You just have to roll with the punches."

"I've been a slave off and on since I was ten," Eagle responded, remembering the vivid details from his profile, as well as the extra details that Snake, he and Wolf had talked about. "But they just recently bought me. And I _hate _Jason," he added. They had talked about that, too. Snake, usually caring, mothering and overbearing, would be the one who Eagle so hated. Wolf had actually suggested that Eagle be angrier with one than at the other. It gave Eagle something to work for.

"Wow," Teskai responded. "I've only been a slave for six months. Why so long for you?"

"Because my birth father hated me. He sold me; and basically, I got put into foster care once or twice. Once I was eighteen, I was pretty much just a slave from then on," Eagle explained. He was surprised at how easily he was able to recount his history, especially considering that it wasn't his. "What about you? Six months?"

"They grabbed my sister and I on the way home from school," Teskai responded. "Tahoma goes around and collects slaves. You think your owners are bad because they have one slave? Tahoma owns many. I'm surprised he didn't hurt you more, quite frankly," she added. "Look, if you want some advice, you really need to hide anything personal, like pictures and stuff like that." She broke out into a grin. "He may think he shredded my sister's only picture of us and our parents, but we still have a copy."

Eagle eyed the teenager. Maybe she could fill him in with more information about what it would be like to be a slave, so that he could more adequately play his role. "You have any more advice like that?" he added.

## break ##

"I'm looking for someone who can accompany me around on a daily basis," Tahoma responded. "I'd love to hire one of my operatives, but they're all so busy, and I'm not sure I trust them yet. Some of them, I think, would just as well steal what I have than work in that position. I'll explain more about the job _on_ the job tomorrow," he added. "Oh, and you would also help Snake set up his shop."

"That I can do," Wolf responded. It looked like their cover story was being bought, and they were getting deeper into their mission. This was good.

"Good." Tahoma sighed as he looked at Snake. "Eagle will probably be in a bad mood tonight," he responded. "I wasn't very kind to him. He'll probably also have a black eye. How did you explain his presence in your old neighborhood? It sounds like your old neighborhood wasn't very kind."

"He was never seen unless he was with one of us," Snake said. He glanced at Wolf and quickly amended. "Well, except for the one time he tried to escape. Actually, one of our neighbors helped find him." This was actually true. They'd gone away from their development to get used to playing their part. Eagle, never one to just sit around, roll over and listen to someone, had escaped. They had questioned the neighbors, telling them that Eagle was autistic and that they needed to help find him – _now_.

"What'd you say then?" Tahoma questioned.

"That he was autistic. One of our neighbors actually helped find him," Snake chuckled. He had remembered Eagle's forlorn face when they'd finally found him two hours later. He had been careful not to hit Eagle in public, had hurt him when they'd gotten home. He felt bad about it, but he knew that they had to maintain appearances.

_Flashback_

"_Eagle, what the hell was that about?" Snake demanded, once they'd gotten him home and safely up to his room. He knew what it was about; they'd decided that Eagle would refuse to just roll over and s it still. Despite this, it didn't make today's two hours of searching any easier. _

_Eagle sat on the floor in his room, his eyes downcast. He knew what was going to happen but that didn't mean he had to like it. "You seriously think I'm going to just roll over and listen to you?" he responded. _

"_Yes!" Snake said, exploding. He reached out, grabbed Eagle's shoulders, and shoved him into the wall behind him. _

_It was the first time he'd hurt Eagle, and he knew, with a sinking heart, that it wouldn't be his last._

_End flashback_

"What'd you do as a result?"

"Beat him," Snake responded as he picked up his dish and placed it in the sink. Wolf eyed him, wondering where he'd gotten his strengths as an undercover officer. God, he made that sound as if it was normal.

"Maybe he's an AWOL risk because he doesn't have enough to do," Tahoma responded. "I can help you train him, if you want. Since you're still new to this and all."

Snake shot a glance at Wolf, who shrugged. Snake made his way back to the table. "Why not?" he asked, feeling sick inside for his friend. "We could always use a little extra advice."

## break ##

Eagle glanced up as the door opened. Teskai didn't even seem phased when Tahoma told her it was time to go.

"Have a good night," Snake called as the two walked off. Wolf would show them out.

For the first time, looking at Snake, Eagle found himself afraid of his friend. He didn't look very happy, and Eagle sensed that meant bad news.

"Time to do the dishes," Snake simply said. Eagle glared at him before starting to stand up. He was surprised when Snake smacked him.

"I don't want you to look at me like that," Snake said. "Actually, don't look at me at all. Tahoma said that you're an AWOL risk because we're giving you too many freedoms, and I personally agree. Now get down there, do the dishes, and don't say another damn word."

Snake moved toward his ownbedroom, and Eagle cast his eyes down on the floor. His undercover role as a slave had truly begun.

## break ##

Fox and Alex were currently huddled in a room. They had both been given the basic necessities, and someone had awarded them with a few pairs of clothes. Their shoes had been taken away, though, and they hadn't gotten them back.

"Are you okay?" Fox asked Alex. The teenager had barely said three words in the entire time it had taken them to be sold and processed. Fox had hated being processed, it was much like the legal process when someone was arrested. You got handcuffed, photographed, and fingerprinted. Then they'd been shoved into here, as if it was absolutely frickin' normal. Fox realized that to them it probably was.

"Yeah," Alex responded. He'd been beaten pretty bad on the transport over.

_Flashback_

"_Hey! I didn't say you could move!" Alex was roughly grabbed by his elbow and thrown on the floor. "Why did you move? You're not allowed to do that. Don't make me hurt you, Boy!" the man said, kicking Alex roughly._

"_Alex!" Fox responded, attempting to reach over towards the teenager. He was grabbed and shoved back into the wall. A gun clicked directly against Alex's head._

"_Don't make me hurt the boy," the first man responded. His trigger finger looked all too itchy. "Because I will."_

"_Okay, okay!" Fox responded. For his penalty, he was roughly shoved down and was grabbed. He winced when one of them produced a belt, seemingly from nowhere. Closing his eyes, he tried to block out the attack as the belt hit him over and over._

_When he finally felt the attack end, he breathed a sigh of relief – until, that was, they started to beat Alex. "Don't hurt him!" he yelled, trying to make his way over to Alex despite being handcuffed. A pillowcase was thrown over his head, and the next thing he knew, he was out._

End flashback

The door opened, and someone ducked their head in. Fox did not know it was Tahoma. "You will begin your new assignments within a few days," he responded. He walked over to Alex and pushed him back against the wall, grabbing him by his chin and forcing Alex to look at him. "You're not going to try anything stupid before then, are you?" he sneered, waiting for an answer.

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><p>I updated early as a thank-you present for those who waited so patiently last time.<p>

Two questions:

1. What will Alex's answer be? (yes or no), and will he and Fox "try anything stupid?"

2. Snake pointed out he knew it wouldn't be the last time he hurt Eagle after he shoved him into the wall... So what will be his next time of hurting Eagle?

Thanks to my lovely reviewers!


	15. Maybe I Won't

A/N: Here is chapter fifteen! Dedicated to NightmareWorld, TornApartPaperDinosuar, ALu-di (who guessed so close), and everyone else who was awesome enough to review.

## break ##

"Course not," Alex responded with false bravado. The man released his chin, smacked him, and shoved him back onto the ground. He kicked Alex before tying his hands with rope. Then he closed the door softly, leaving them alone in the dark night. _I mean, absolutely, hell, yes, _he thought with a smirk.

Alex couldn't help but feel miserable. He'd tried to rescue Fox, but had only ended up in a worse situation than before. Maybe he should have trusted Wolf; maybe not. Now that Fox was here, though, he could ask him about that.

Well, tomorrow when he could actually speak to him, that was.

## break ##

It didn't take long to do the dishes. They had a dishwasher, after all, and it wasn't like there were very many there. Although it was a challenge for Eagle to get the meat off of the bottom of the sauce pan that Wolf had burned too it. "Jacob," he muttered under his breath, "may love cooking, but dishes, he's not good at doing."

He sighed as he heard noise coming from the other bedroom and had to smile. His role, while it sucked, wasn't so bad. Neither Wolf nor Snake were gay, so it would be very…interesting… to see how they were playing their part.

The doorbell rang, and Eagle went to answer it, figuring that it had better be him this time. Much to his surprise, it was Tahoma again, although this time he was unaccompanied by a slave. He wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Is Jason still here?" he questioned, referring to Snake. Eagle nodded, gestured toward the couch, and moved towards the bedroom. He knocked on the door and waited patiently.

Wolf ducked his head out first. "What?" he asked. He looked to be about half asleep. "Take Jason with you, will you? I swear to God it's like he's got a lot of caffeine."

Despite himself, Eagle smiled. "Tahoma is here. He would like to speak to Jason."

Snake pushed past Eagle, not even acknowledging him as he made his way into the kitchen. "Eagle, the dishwasher isn't started yet!" He snapped, despite knowing that Tahoma had interrupted Eagle's work. "Didn't I tell you to clean up the kitchen and you're only just now getting the dishes done? Don't blame me when you're up all night," he muttered. "I'm sure I could find plenty of other jobs for you to do, too, if you think you don't have enough!"

"I was in the middle of it!" Eagle protested, looking worried as Snake looked like he was about to erupt. The last thing he wanted was another beating.

"You're just lucky I don't have time for this right now, Eagle," Snake said, glancing at Tahoma, who was relaxing comfortably on the couch. "You better hurry. If that kitchen's not a lot cleaner by the time Tahoma and I are done talking, I'm going to make sure you don't get any sleep tonight. And what did I tell you about backtalking?" he growled.

Eagle growled but remained silent as Snake slammed the kitchen door closed and left the room. Starting the dishwasher, he sighed as he turned to the table. He'd better get moving.

## break ##

"Sorry for coming back at such a late hour," Tahoma apologized as he handed Snake a manila envelope.

"Oh, it's not a problem," Snake said. He gestured towards the kitchen where Eagle was. Although he felt bad for hurting his friend, he knew that they had to look authentic or nobody would take them seriously. And it would be much, much worse if Tahoma discovered that they were actually undercover. "I'll be up for awhile, anyway," he added.

"This is the information about the speed ring," Tahoma responded. "The police here in the area are well-paid by me to avoid looking at anyone in this community, so you should be safe. 50% of the drug sales are in this community, and 50% are outside of the community. Jacob's job will be primarily helping me with sales outside of the community."

"A lot of information here," Snake remarked as he looked at the package.

"It is a lot, but I think you'll find it's everything you need to know. I've included information in there about Teskai and her sister, as well as the two other slaves you'll be working with. I was going to give you Teskai, since you've already met her, but after tonight…" he just shook his head. "Anyway, her sister's name is Kitai. Kitai is seventeen, Teskai is sixteen," he said. "Tomorrow, I'll come over around seven and talk to you about setting up the work force. Primarily, my organization deals in massive amounts of just about every drug you'd ever want. We have a crack cocaine nitch, a heroin nitch… pretty much just about everything. We don't do the street-selling stuff. We sell our drugs to other dealers, who then sell it on the street," Tahoma said.

"So we're like the high-up people, and the dealers are the middleman, and the street users are at the bottom of the totem pole?" Snake questioned.

"Exactly. Most street users are on the younger side. They don't want to buy a lot of weed, crack, whatever you need it. We make adderall in small doses because most people just want it for like a test, or something. They'll but it in larger doses if they need too. Crack cocaine comes in larger doses, because most people who use that get addicted to it easily. And when they're addicted to it, they're really addicted to it. How often do you use it?"

Snake shrugged. "It depends on my mood, really. I don't like to use it a lot; I'll generally use marijuana or adderall, but sometimes I just can't get enough of that so I try crack. The withdrawal symptoms for crack are killer, though," he said. Upon hearing something drop in the kitchen, Snake groaned. "I'll be right back," he said.

Tahoma nodded and allowed Snake to open the door. "Eagle, what the hell?" he asked.

Eagle grimaced as he looked at what he'd dropped. A simple, stupid cup, but one that was sure to earn him a beating. "I'm sorry," he said, quickly, as he moved to pick it up. "I-I'll wash it again. S-sorry."

Tahoma had come into the room, interested to see what Snake would do.

"We've had this talk before, Eagle! You can't just toss around dishes like that!" Snake said, purposely raising his voice. "God, Eagle, can you mess up anything _else_?" he responded.

"I j-just dropped it!"

"And what did I tell you about backtakling?"Snake buried his face in his hands.

"The problem with owning slaves in the twenty-first century," Tahoma said, coming over, "Is that they seem to think they're special, or something. Personally, I think it's because they get ahold of too much damn technology before they're captured."

Eagle kept quiet, but glared at Tahoma, letting the man know he did not intimidate him.

"This is our problem with him," Snake said, gesturing towards Eagle. "He won't listen. He's like a stubborn mule. We knew that when we bought him. I actually told Jacob to go for someone less stubborn, but Jacob wanted this one."

"Maybe he fancied this one," Tahoma responded, eyeing Eagle.

Eagle wasn't sure who looked more nauseous, himself or Snake.

"Whatever his reasoning," Snake growled, trying to change the subject before it got too far downhill, "I really, really don't know what to do with this one."

"Personally, I think you're being too nice to him," Tahoma responded, "Although I'll leave it up to your judgment on that. I don't let any of my slaves have their own bedroom, although you're in a unique situation. What if you locked him in a closet for a few days? He'd probably listen then."

"I j-just dropped the dish!" Eagle said, purposely stuttering as he looked at Tahoma. "I d-d…"

"Whether you meant to or not, you did it," Snake said with a tired sigh. He glanced at Tahoma. "That sounds like a good idea. I'm too tired to deal with him tonight. But we don't really have any closets that we can spare."

"You have a basement, right? Lock him in there." Tahoma smiled, as if saying this was a natural, everyday occurrence, not something Snake would have been arrested for doing if Eagle was younger. "By the way, how old is he?"

Snake shrugged. "Twenty one, I think. I don't really pay attention."

Tahoma smiled. "Neither do I. I'll go get out the information and let you handle this."

Eagle tried not to glare at Snake, knowing that would only get him in trouble right now. Snake grabbed him by his elbow and dragged him towards the basement. Eagle didn't even bother to fight, he knew that he'd just get hurt more.

The look on Snake's face lightened as he saw the basement. "Tomorrow, we'll go through your room and you'll just move down here," he responded. "Plenty of room, right?" he asked.

With that, the next thing Eagle knew was that he was flying down the stairs.

"Oh, yeah," Snake hollered as he made to close the door, "We'll work on your new list of rules later, too!"

## break ##

It had been nearly midnight when Tahoma had excused himself. Snake was grateful that he had tomorrow off. Wolf would start at eight o'clock the next day.

He opened the door and shook Wolf awake. "Hey," he said. He looked absolutely exhausted. "Sorry, but I couldn't stay awake."

Snake chuckled. Then he grew serious. "Want to drive?" he asked.

"Sure," Wolf responded, knowing what Snake met. The two got in their car. Snake drove about forty miles away before he felt safe enough to sit down and talk. They couldn't afford to blow their cover on a stupid mistake. After checking their vehicle to make sure it wasn't bugged, they made their way to the diner.

"Well?" Wolf responded, eyeing the waitress after they'd ordered.

"We're in," Snake said, tiredly, "But we're going to have a hell of a lot to do."

## break ##

Challenge:

1. What will Eagle's new list of rules be?

2. When will Fox and Alex try something stupid?

Now, I know you like it - so review! :D


	16. One Works, The Other Sleeps

Even though Snake had the day off the next day, Wolf didn't. He let Snake sleep in and ordered Eagle make him breakfast. He didn't want to take advantage of his friend, but both he and Snake were well aware that the house was bugged, and that Tahoma was watching everything they said and did. Hence the reason for the forty-mile drive last night. Wolf was sure he'd be asked about it.

"Come in, come in!" Tahoma greeted him as he knocked on the man's door. Tahoma had four children, all of which were mysteriously out of sight when he arrived. Wolf had a feeling that was purposefully done. "Good morning," he said, greeting him cheerfully.

"Morning," Wolf responded, rubbing the last, remaining bit of tiredness from his eyes.

"You had bit of a late night, I heard," Tahoma said with a smile.

"Yeah, Jason decided that he wanted a little bit of action, and who was I to disagree?" Wolf responded. Their cover story was a little embarrassing for both but they thought it was the easiest to explain. The last thing they wanted to say was, "We went out to get a private space to talk, because we didn't trust you." "Of course," Wolf deadpanned, "He didn't have work the next day, and I did."

Tahoma smiled at that. "Right," he responded. "Well, let's get started, shall we?" he made his way to the kitchen, where another girl, probably closer to seventeen, was making Tahoma and his family breakfast. Tahoma had three daughters and a sister. "This is Kitai," he said. At Wolf's blank look, he explained, "Teskai's sister."

"What about my sister?" Kitai responded, turning around and facing the man.

"Kitai, this is not of any relevance," Tahoma assured her. "Go make breakfast."

"No," Kitai responded. "And you know my name isn't Kitai. It's Helena," she snapped.

Wolf winced. He was afraid the argument would end up with the seventeen year old being beaten, and he didn't want that; but he didn't know how much he could intervene without blowing his cover.

"It's Kitai to me," he retorted. He grabbed her around her wrist, and she slapped him back.

"Don't push me around. I want to know what about my sister!"

"Hey!" Wolf said, breaking up the fight. Both stared at him. "Not that I wouldn't mind a good fight as much as anyone, but weren't we in the middle of something here?"

"Right," Tahoma responded, looking disturbed. "Look, _Kitai, _justmake the damn breakfast, okay?"

"Why would I do that?" With one gesture, Kitai took the pan that had been on the table, and dumped it on the floor, walking to the room where her sister was.

Tahoma buried his face in his hands. Wolf looked at him, surprised. He'd expected him to beat Kitai. "That one," Tahoma muttered, picking up the pan and the food that was in it, "Is absolutely hopeless."

At Wolf's look, he said, "Every now and then you get a few bad slaves. She's one of them."

* * *

><p>"We've got to get out of here," Kitai muttered as she sank down on her bed. Teskai was instantly at her side.<p>

"What's wrong? Did he hurt you?"

"May, I'm fine." Despite the many attempts Tahoma had made to quench the sisters, they never bothered with using their slave names on each other. They would only do that when they were in the presence of others.

"Your wrist," Teskai pointed. Kitai sighed; she knew she had a bruise from where Tahoma had grabbed her. Another reason for them to get out of there.

"Yeah…" Kitai glared at the ceiling. "How soon do you think we can make our escape attempt?"

"I don't really know," Teskai responded. "Hey, remember how you said that our mistake last time was going alone, that they noticed two girls instantly?"

"How would I forget that?"

"I think I have a way that we can remedy that little situation." At Kitai's smile, Teskai said, "There's a new… I don't know what to call them…"

"Well, them – family, right?"

Teskai frowned. "I don't think so. They're, um, gay, I think." At Kitai's look, she quickly amended. "The partners are. They have some guy, I think he's like 21, who's here. I feel kinda bad for him, actually. He's been a slave off and on since he was ten."

"Ouch," Kitai responded, "But how is that going to help?"

"We could use him as sort of an older brother. You know, when someone asks why we're out, we can say we're running an errand with him."

"That might work." Kitai frowned. "How are we going to talk to him, though?"

"I don't know," Teskai muttered, "But we'll see soon enough."

* * *

><p>Eagle heaved a heavy sigh as he finally finished moving the last of his things. Snake had talked with Wolf last night, and they'd settled on some new rules, one of which was that his new room would be down in the basement. Instead of having an actual bed, like he had been allowed to have before, he was stripped down to a bare mattress and a blanket, along with a few other basic necessities. Snake had handed him a few books he was allowed to keep, and told him he'd go over the new rules later.<p>

Opening one of the books, Eagle frowned as a note slid out. He opened up the note, reading only: _Sorry, Tahoma_.

He knew who it was from, and he knew it wasn't from Tahoma. It was definitely from Snake. He breathed a sigh of relief before shredding the paper into bits. It felt good to know that Snake's cover was an act. He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

Taking a deep breath, he forcefully exhaled and groaned as he dropped on his mattress. At least he'd been given a blanket and a pillow.

The light flickered on, and the door opened. Eagle groaned again. So much for trying to go to sleep.

"Hi," Snake said, clamoring down the stairs about as eloquently as a herd of elephants. "Are you ready to talk now?"

"Do I have a choice?" Eagle responded bitterly, knowing the answer would be no. In the dim light, he smiled, knowing that Snake would see it and understand Eagle got – and had accepted – his apology.

"No." Snake handed him a piece of paper and a pen, along with a notebook. "We're going over the new rules. Tahoma took the liberty of discussing them with me, and let me just say, you're lucky I threw some of them away." He hadn't asked Tahoma for his advice; he'd made the mistake of mentioning that he was coming up for new rules with Eagle, and Tahoma had chimed in with his suggestions. Some of the suggestions Tahoma had made left Snake feeling nauseous, especially the one where Tahoma had said, _let Jacob do all the punishing of Eagle, since he seems to fancy him, too_.

"Do I get a say in these rules?" Eagle demanded as he accepted the pencil. His character wasn't just going to roll over and play dead, and he didn't plan on it, either. He had already decided that despite his punishments he liked his role much better than Snake's and Wolf's.

"No. Actually, the first rule is no opinions," Snake responded. "We really don't want to know what you have to say, Eagle. As a slave, you don't get a right to vote or to do anything else. You're basically equal to property, except we can't get any tax write-offs for you. So write that down."

_Would it be worth it to fight over this_? Eagle exhaled forcefully again, knowing that Snake would only win in a fight. "But… What does that mean, l-like I can't t-think?"

Snake groaned, burying his face in his hands. "It means that you can't have your own opinion about anything, Eagle. God, how hard is that to understand? Maybe I should have Wolf explain these things too you," he threatened.

"No! I – I get it," Eagle responded quickly, writing down the first rule.

"This one is just as important, so make it a number one, two," Snake responded. "No talking."

"But -," Eagle protested, cutting himself off. It would do no good to protest now and get himself beat up. He had figured that Snake and Wolf would have eventually made that rule, anyway, and was surprised it hadn't happened sooner, but seriously, no talking? "What if I have a question?"

Snake pointedly ignored him. "You may speak only when you need to deliver a message from one person to another. Write down the rule, Eagle."

Sighing, Eagle did as he said, knowing that meant he'd just have to decipher the things that Wolf and Snake demanded he do.

"And especially no talking to other slaves," Snake added with a grimace.

_Yeah, right, like that one's not going to happen_, Eagle thought, although he was careful not to let his smirk show. He knew Snake was only saying that one for face value.

By the time they'd finished, their list looked something like this:

**1. No opinions**

**2. No talking**

**3. Obey all commands without question**

**4. No running away (sentenced by at least _one_ beating)**

It was only four rules, but Eagle knew, somehow, he was going to break them all before the week was out.

If nothing else, he'd make it his personal mission to do so.

* * *

><p>Did you 'enjoy' the chapter?<p>

Here are the challenge(s):

1. How soon until Eagle attempts to escape? Will Teskai and Kitai go with him? Will they be able to get away?

2. How will Snake's first day on the job go?


	17. Jason Looks Like Snake

A/N: Gasp - an update! Hopefully this answers some questions and gives you some more Alex! There will be more Alex in the next chapter, too. Thanks to "Alex", who reminded me I needed more Alex, and thanks to everyone who reviews!

**Thanks to Nightmareworld for doing the challenge. **

* * *

><p>Alex Rider exhaled forcefully as he looked at Tahoma. The man had to absolutely be kidding. There was no way he was just going to roll over and listen to him, even though he knew it would be the best thing to do. It just wasn't in his nature to roll over and listen to someone, even when he <em>knew<em> it would be the better thing to do. "No," he responded.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't hear that right. Are you saying 'no' to me?" Tahoma asked coldly, glaring at Alex as if he was the scum of the earth.

"Yes," Alex responded, glaring at Tahoma.

"Too bad," Tahoma said simply, surprising him. He grabbed Alex's wrist and dragged him out the door. Alex decided it would be better not to resist until he got a better view of his surroundings and was able to plot out his escape route. He had already figured he and Fox had the best chance of escaping if they ran away together. He couldn't explain why, it was just a feeling he got.

Blinking at the sudden bright sunlight, Alex sighed as he was dragged roughly down the street. Tahoma opened the door to a shack-like house and smiled. "Good morning, Jason."

Jason, much to Alex's horror, looked exactly like Snake.

* * *

><p>"This is who I'm working with?" Snake asked as he looked at Tahoma. The teenager looked a lot like Alex. Originally, Snake had thought about asking to work with Eagle, then decided that would be a bad idea. Eagle was still enduring his two days' basement punishment that Tahoma had suggested.<p>

Although Snake knew they had more than enough to pin Tahoma down for a ton of crimes, they still didn't know the neighborhood well enough for the cops. He figured that eventually, he would send Eagle out to scout out the neighborhood. Wolf, too, could do that with his job eventually. They really needed to take this entire neighborhood down.

"Yeah," Tahoma said. "I was going to give you Teskai, since you've met her before, but she's not feeling well this morning and I'm going to be dragging her along with me this afternoon with Jacob. Kitai is under punishment."

"What's his name?"

Tahoma sighed. "Haven't thought about that yet, actually; just purchased him to days ago."

"Hey!" Alex said, and Snake glanced at him. "I'm right here! And I'm not your –" before he could finish, Tahoma dropped him to the floor, kicking him in his ribs.

"Sorry," Tahoma responded, "he seems to want to be stubborn."

"I'm right here!"

Ignoring Alex's outraged cry, Tahoma said, "I think a good name for him would be Cub. Since he's so young. I'll be back in about three hours to pick him up."

"Thanks," Snake said, although he didn't feel like he meant it.

* * *

><p>Alex felt sick to his stomach. Cub was the name he'd been called at Brecon Beacons. He knew that Tahoma couldn't possibly know that, but still, it was not fun.<p>

"I'm not working with you," he informed the man-who-looked-like Snake, because firstly, the man was Jason, not Snake. Alex had thought that Snake's real name was something boring, like David.

"Yes, you are," Jason said. He really, really didn't want to hit Alex, but he would if he had too, he guessed. He wanted to find some way to make this happen as non-violently as possible. "Look, Cub, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. I'd strongly prefer to do this the easy way."

"Why? So you don't exert your muscles beating me up?" Alex demanded. He didn't care if the man beat him; he'd already been beaten twice by Tahoma since he'd been there.

_Flashback_

"_I'm not listening to you," Alex Rider growled as he looked at Tahoma. All Tahoma had asked him to do was make breakfast, but Alex wasn't interested in listening. Not after he'd seen Tahoma beat up Fox last night for moving his shoe in the wrong place._

"_Yes, you are," Tahoma responded. "Look, I don't want to get violent, but I will if I have too."_

"_You don't want to get violent?" Alex demanded. He adjusted his blue shirt lightly. Tahoma had apparently been expecting a shipment of slaves, because it seemed like he'd had someone do clothes shopping already. Fox and Alex had a shared room. They slept on cots. Each had a tin full of clothes their size. _

"_Look, fine. You don't want to do cooking. I've got another job for you, then." Tahoma shoved him down to the floor and pulled off his belt. "You going to listen to me?"_

"_No." _

_The beating started then, with Tahoma asking a question, and each time Alex saying no. He was limping quite painfully by the time Tahoma had finished, but he didn't care. He'd made his stand._

_He was probably going to regret it later. _

_## end flashback ## _

"Look, let's just work together, alright?" Jason said. "I'm not into beating kids, but I will if I have too."

_It would be easier to escape with Fox, and learn the layout of the land. Maybe I can get Jason to be an ally. _

Glaring at the man, letting him know he may be cooperating, but the man hadn't broken his spirit, Alex sulkily snapped, "Fine."

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later<strong>

Eagle had been done with his punishment for two days, but hadn't been allowed to move out of the basement. Snake felt bad, but he hoped it made them look more authentic. Tahoma was starting to open up and trust Wolf. They still hadn't seen Fox.

Since Alex – well, Cub, really; how ironic that Tahoma had chosen that name – had finally agreed to help, Snake had been able to set up the adderall and speed ring within two days. "Hey," he said, greeting Tahoma as he opened the door. Tahoma had finally started knocking on the door after the third time Snake had jumped for his gun. Snake couldn't help it; it was just a hard habit. Luckily, Tahoma seemed to respect this, and even find it funny.

"_You really must have __had a hard time in your own neighborhood. I'm glad you're here now." _

Eagle was in the kitchen, helping Wolf with the dinner. Wolf had stepped up and helped Snake. Both felt bad about punishing Eagle, but they knew it had to be done. Eagle seemed to know this, too. His nature had been slightly more resigned since his beating – but only slightly.

"I see you have Teskai with you," Snake said. He felt the worst for the kids. They didn't deserve to be stuck in this mess. He knew he would have to get over his feeling soon, though; tomorrow he would be starting the shop with Teskai, her sister, Eagle, Cub, and someone else as helpers. He hoped he wouldn't have to punish them.

"Yup. Can Teskai stay with Eagle again? That seemed to work well last time." They had learned that Tahoma liked having one of his slaves accompany him because that way he could keep an eye on at least one time.

"Yeah," Snake replied. "Eagle? Jacob and I can finish up here."

Tight-lipped, Eagle nodded. He knew better than to speak. Wolf had already punished him for that. He was sure Snake and Wolf were having a heyday with finally being able to make him be quiet, even though he knew that wasn't true. He'd overheard enough of Snake's conversation with Wolf to know that Snake had thrown out quite a few of Tahoma's ideas.

"Please take Tesaki down to your room," he responded.

If Eagle had been allowed to speak, he would have made some quip about sharing the basement with a girl, but since he was neither allowed to speak, nor have an opinion, he didn't bother mentioning it. He just lead her towards the basement, turning on the dingy light and closing the door as he made his way to his bed.

"You seem subdued," Teskai responded.

Eagle snorted before smiling. He was glad someone had noticed, it meant that Snake probably had too. "Only in spirit; I'm trying to let them think I'm not going to do anything stupid so that I can get the hell out of here. Technically, I'm 'especially not to talk to slaves,' but who the hell cares?" he asked with a shrug.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Teskai then smiled, realizing that Eagle had said he wanted to get the hell out of there. That could help. "Hey, listen… I have an idea."

"Go for it," Eagle responded. He'd checked his basement for bugs, and surprisingly found it clean.

"My sister, Kitai, and I want to escape." She was careful to use only her sister's code name; she didn't want to reveal her sister's actual name just yet. "Are you going to come with us, or are we going to have to kill you and hide the body so you don't give away our scheming plans?"

* * *

><p>Challenge:<p>

Will Eagle say yes? Will he, Kitai, and Teskai be able to escape?

When will the K-Unit see Fox?

Will Alex start to cooperate, or will he be more determined to get away when he starts working for Snake? When will he realize who he's working with? (The second one is NightmareWorld's challenge, so be sure to answer it!)

Want to write a guest challenge for the next chapter? PM ME for details!


	18. Run Away Like Escape?

A/N: I had this chapter done, as well as Some Rich Man's Son, and was only going to post Some Rich Man's Son tonight, but NightmareWorld said, _why not post this too_? Be sure and thank her!

## break ##

"Run away?" Eagle asked, albeit somewhat dumbly, carefully, so that he wouldn't get whacked if he was wrong, "You mean… like escape?" He hoped he was right.

"No, I mean like sitting the hell on these beds," Teskai retorted with a snort. "Of course I mean escape." She had a look on her face that clearly said, _what do you think, dude_?

"Just wanted to make sure I heard you right," Eagle muttered as he slipped off the bed. It was bare other than a green blanket; Snake hadn't bothered to give him any sheets. "Yes, I want to get out of here." He knew that, realistically, even if he managed to escape, MI6 would haul him back there and make him complete the mission. Still, if he attempted, maybe he could get Teskai and her sister out of the neighborhood. They didn't deserve to be here anymore than he did. He paused as Teskai glanced around the room.

"They're not listening in, if that's what you're looking for," he offered.

Teskai sighed as she sat down on a chair. "Yeah," she said. She glanced at her shoe, tying the white lace firmly. "You got a way out of the basement?"

Eagle nodded, and made his way over to the window. "See here? It's too tiny for one person, say like yourself, to climb out of. But if I boost you, and if I climb on, like, say…" he glanced around the room before finding an old yellow phone book, "The phone book, then we should be golden, right?"

"Can't hurt to try," she said, bringing the phone book over to him. "Wait, should we try it now?"

"If you want," Eagle said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Jason said he expected Tahoma to be over for most of the night – that might give us enough time."

Teskai nodded grimly. Eagle stood on the yellow book, glancing out the window. It was pitch black outside. If Eagle had been allowed to have a watch, he would have known the time – just after seven. Eagle was right on the book idea; when added, the book made the window just within his reach. He was practically tall enough to reach the window; he just needed a little boost. Eagle knelt down, adjusting the palm of his hands so that she could step up on his foot.

Pushing herself up, Teskai brushed the window open. Eagle was out of the window three seconds later. "Keep low," he advised her. "Which way is Tahoma's house?"

"You don't know?" Teskai hissed back, surprised. She was careful to keep her voice low. While Eagle had only been there for a few days, she'd been there for six months. People knew who she was, and worse, they knew that she was a slave. Maybe it was good that she was bringing Eagle with.

Eagle shook his head in reply to her question. "Remember, we only moved here less than a week ago, and Jason's pretty much kept me chained to the house since then." He kept his tone of voice bleak. He'd been hoping to at least get some time out of the house, but Snake had been adamant about making sure that he didn't do anything out of line.

It was a little late for that now.

"I swear, man, you got tougher owners than I did," Teskai muttered. They were about a hundred yards from the house now.

"Okay, I think we're good to walk now," Eagle responded, ignoring her statement as he straightened up. Snake wasn't really tough; he just believed in appearances, that was all. At Teskai's look, he continued. "Look, if we keep sneaking around, they're more likely to notice us. Let's just say I'm guarding you for Tahoma, if anyone else asks."

Teskai looked at Eagle in awe. "I knew there was a reason I brought you along."

## break ##

Teskai shook her sister gently, looking at her sister, who had just woken up. "Le temps de fuir," she whispered softly, speaking in French so their conversation couldn't be translated.

"Fuir?" Her sister said, and then blinked. "Pardon," she said, grabbing her shoes. "Prêt."

Together, the two slipped out of the house. "Avez-vous l'amener avec vous? Nous n'avons aucune chance autrement."

"Oui, j'ai fait. Je ne suis pas sûr que nous allons le faire, mais il ne peut pas de mal d'essayer."

"Il peut effectivement mal d'essayer, mais je ne vais pas m'asseoir." Helena handed her sister the money she'd stolen off of the dresser. "Sortons d'ici," she said as she slipped out of the room. Together, the two girls joined Eagle and slipped out into the night.

## break ##

_Flashback_

_Fox needed first aid, desperately. He had been bleeding fairly badly from a beating he'd received earlier. Tahoma was trying to teach Fox how to mix marijuana and he had screwed up. Or, at least, that was Tahoma's version. Fox had simply said that he hadn't added the right amount of whatever chemical Tahoma was using. _

_Rather than try and explain to Fox what he had done wrong, Tahoma had simply taken him, thrown him on the floor, and taken a nearby belt and whipped him until the already old cuts on Fox's back became opened._

_End flashback_

All Alex wanted was a first aid kit for Fox. He was the one who had gotten Fox into this mess, after all. After spending about two minutes looking for one, and not finding one, Alex ended up giving up and trying the door.

It was unlocked, much to Alex's relief.

_A criminal mastermind, Tahoma was not. _That was Alex's thought as he slipped out of the room, glancing halfheartedly at the two girls speaking in French. Alex avoided them by going around the corridor. He heard the front door open and shut, and took a steady breath.

_If anyone asks, you're doing something for Tahoma, _Alex told himself firmly. Another time, he might have thought about escaping, but now wasn't the time. Alex quietly slipped into the kitchen, which was vacant. Glancing at the clock, Alex decided it made sense. It was seven o'clock at night. He and Fox hadn't been allowed to have dinner that night, which Alex realized was now probably a result of Fox's punishment.

It was then when Alex spied the phone. He mentally ran his options through his head. Fox's beating had been earlier in the day, and he had seemed fine then, but now he was bleeding again. Alex didn't know where any first aid kits were, and he guessed Fox's injuries were slightly serious.

Wincing at the beating he knew he was going to get when it was all said and done (he hardly doubted that any cops would rescue him this close from the slave ring), Alex Rider picked up the phone and dialed 9-9-9.

Tahoma was going to kill him.

## break ##

Wolf put the dishes from the table in the sink, not bothering to rinse them off. That was Eagle's job. While he didn't approve of having slaves, he sure agreed it was nice not to do any housework. When he and Snake were done with this mission he was going to look into hiring a housekeeper.

Tahoma exhaled as he flipped open his cell phone. "Hello?" he asked, speaking into it abruptly. "Okay, Sasha. Slow down, sweetie, and just tell me what's going on."

"His wife," Wolf whispered to Snake as Tahoma leaned up against the wall. He studied the look on Tahoma's face carefully, noting the man's tightening features.

"Jason, I need you to come with me," Tahoma responded. At Snake's confused look, he explained. "You have medical training, right? One of my slaves decided to be an idiot and call a doctor. I need to correct that behavior later, but for now, I need you to vouch that we really did check them out later. Wolf, would you mind going over to my house and checking on things there? Sasha seems really freaked out."

"Sure, not a problem," Wolf responded, grabbing his keys off of the table. He glanced at Snake, his eyes sending a brief message: Eagle? Snake just shook his head, meaning that no, he didn't think leaving Eagle alone for a few hours would kill anyone.

They would soon realize just how wrong they were.

## break ##

How badly will Alex get hurt?

Will Eagle/Teskai escape?

How "wrong" are Wolf and Snake?


	19. Beaten For 911 Call

_Chapter _

Alex Rider paced the hospital nervously. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Tahoma came; the doctor had demanded a number before he would treat Fox. Alex was sporting the grim proof that the 9-9-9 emergency squad team and the doctor were in the league with Tahoma. Yet Fox was getting his needed medical attention, and that was all he needed. Still, Alex couldn't help but think about the wrath he'd suffered – and would suffer again – because he called emergency services for Fox.

_Flashback _

"_Where is Tahoma?" the first man asked as Alex greeted the men at the door. The house was still oddly deserted. Only Tahoma, his family, Teskai, Kitai, and Alex and Fox lived there at the time. Tahoma usually farmed out his adult slaves to other houses, but kept his underage slaves in the same house as him, since he already had family. Alex couldn't figure out why Fox hadn't been moved, but he wasn't complaining. _

"_H-he's not here," Alex said. The EMS man grabbed him by the arm and shoved him against the recently painted brown wall. Alex winced in response, trying desperately not to think about the beating he was going to get later. He was certainly going to get one if this was the EMT's response. He knew he couldn't rely on help from anyone so close… so why had he called? Would Fox, at least, get the help that he needed? "Why are we here? Who do we need to treat?" _

"_Fox," Alex responded, not willing to give this idiot Fox's real name. "H-he's in the other room." Alex wasn't sure why he was stuttering, but he was; maybe he would be able to speak easier if the EMT would release his hands from his neck. _

"_Mike, let go of the kid and just go do your job. Kid, show us where he is," the second EMT barked. Alex nodded and hustled over to the room, pointing to the corridor. He was glad that he had called emergency services even if it looked as though he'd get beaten up for it. _

_What Alex didn't realize is that Tahoma didn't bother to lock doors on his apartment because he knew that none of his slaves would get anywhere. Even if they did manage to make a phone call, the phone was bugged and traced, and he ad police operatives working for him in almost every nearby local county. _

_There was a reason why Tahoma hadn't gone down yet._

_Alex was glad to see Fox being wheeled down the hall in a stretcher – until Alex was roughly grabbed by the arm. "You're coming with us," the first one said. "You're going to talk." _

_End flashback_

They'd dragged Alex to the hospital with them. He hadn't resisted, but they'd still dragged him. As soon as he'd gotten there, he was greeted by someone in a doctor's uniform – someone who had not taken the oath seriously, anyway. Alex had learned he was someone Tahoma had hired to keep other, legitimate employees from realizing what was going on in his business.

White Coat had kept Alex sequestered in a white room, where, he wasn't sure. He was told he would be put there until Tahoma arrived. The man-in-the-white-coat had already been mad at him, though, and had beaten him rather badly. That was when Alex had been told that White Coat's job was exclusively helping Tahoma.

Alex winced again, shifting. He had originally been pacing, wanting news on Fox, but he'd been ordered to stop that when one of the nurses had come in to check on him. He'd gotten no information from her, but he had gotten a nice black eye.

He knew it was just a small fraction of what was to come.

* * *

><p>Fox groaned as he awoke, blinking as he looked at the overhead lights. It looked like he was in… a hospital? He couldn't be sure. Upon hearing the door open, Fox instantly closed his eyes, trying to maintain a presence like he was asleep.<p>

"I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner, doctor," he heard Tahoma's sharp voice say. "Thank you for letting me know about this, and thanks for looking at him for me. Jason – he's my resident medic – checked him out last night, and he seemed fine."

"And what exactly happened to him?" the doctor's voice asked. Fox wasn't sure the doctor believed Tahoma's story. Well, Tahoma was there; so much for being free. But was the doctor on Tahoma's side? It didn't sound like it.

"He's autistic," Tahoma said, softly, and Fox could picture Tahoma staring down at his shoes. "He got out of his room yesterday night when none of us were paying attention, and he fell down the stairs. Don't know what else happened, but he seemed okay."

"I see," the doctor responded. "We'll make note of that on his file. Jason, you checked him over and he 'seemed fine?'"

Fox really wanted to hear this explanation. He'd been beaten twice since he'd been sold to Tahoma, and neither time had he been looked at, so he really wanted to hear what this mysterious medic said.

"I looked at him, yeah. I mean, he wasn't fine; he had bruises, but we were helping him with those. I don't know what happened after that."

The doctor glanced at the two of them, and must have bought the story, because Fox heard, "Okay. He's your charge, you take care of him." With that, the door slipped open.

Tahoma let out a breath as the door closed. "I swear to God, I am absolutely going to kill that kid."

"Who called?" It was then when Fox recognized the voice – Jason sounded exactly like Snake. But that couldn't be, right? For one thing, Snake was a _good_ guy, and for another… it just didn't compute with his brain.

"Sasha didn't know." Tahoma let out a breath again. "My guy who works here said that he's here, so I'm going to go claim him. I'll have to go beat the shit out of him at home, though. Obviously one of the new ones…" Fox could have sworn that he felt Tahoma's eyes rest on him. "It must have been Cub," he said finally. "I _knew _that kidwas trouble."

* * *

><p>Snake couldn't help but smile inwardly. Outwardly, he kept his expression focused. Yeah, that sounded like Alex Rider, alright. The problem was, he didn't know how to help Alex Rider without breaking cover.<p>

"Oh, and I decided not to send Jacob to help my wife, by the way; I decided to send someone else…" Tahoma stopped as a cell phone rang. Snake grabbed his, looking at the body on the bed.

It looked exactly like Fox.

Ignoring that for a second, half hoping he was right, and half hoping he was wrong, Snake picked up his phone. "Jason speaking… Wait, slow down, Jacob, slow down… I can't understand you between all the threats… _What the hell do you mean, Eagle and Teskai are gone_?" He hung up the phone and glared at the still form on the bed, as if it was personally responsible for their woes, before turning towards Tahoma.

"Don't tell me," Tahoma responded, sinking down to the chair and burying his face in his hands. "I can only handle one crisis at a time." Taking a deep breath, he looked up at Snake again. "What is it?"

"That was Jacob – Teskai and Eagle weren't in the basement," Snake said. He felt sick with worry. Wolf had sounded extremely anxious on the phone. "Jacob thinks they escaped."

"While we were having our meeting?" Tahoma asked. He glanced at his watch. "Okay, so, that theoretically would have given them any time from five o'clock until now," he said. "You can tell Jacob to relax – I'm not surprised; Teskai's been adamant about wanting to run away for awhile now. She must have sensed that Eagle wanted out of here now, and decided to take new prey."

"New prey?"

"Whatever you want to call it. You can call Jacob back. I'm going to call my handler. If they're anywhere within a hundred-mile radius, he'll find them," Tahoma said. He paused. "I'm also going to call someone in the local police department that I know. Teskai's a minor, so we might be able to swing some things that way."

"Okay," Jason said. He glanced at the body again as Tahoma opened the clear hospital door and opened the door, leaving the room.

Shit. It _was_ Fox.

* * *

><p>Alex Rider glanced up nervously, looking up at the figure that opened the room. It was Tahoma.<p>

"You're exactly who I thought was the only one who could possibly be idiot enough to call the cops," Tahoma sneered. Alex winced, knowing this was going nowhere good. He decided to try and plead out his case anyway.

"F-Fox was bleeding," he said. "I c-couldn't find a first aid kit, and n-obody was around, so I c-called-…"

"Do you really think that I would give a damn about your friend?" Tahoma sneered. "He wasn't bleeding that badly. Surely you could have searched a little harder for him, don't you think?"

"I-I…" _Damn it, would he ever be able to speak without stuttering? _

"Do yourself a favor, and don't say anything," Tahoma snapped. He grabbed Alex by his arm, hauling him up from the chair. "You're coming up. If anyone asks, I'm your father, and you don't say another damn word other than that. Are we clear?"

Alex nodded hurriedly, not wanting to provoke the man any further. "And don't think you're out of a punishment, because trust me, you are not," Tahoma responded, "But it can wait until later. I have other business to take care of." He gripped Alex's arm even more tightly and hauled him out the door, showing no signs of remorse at the tightening look of pain on Alex's face.

* * *

><p>"Get down!" Eagle said, grabbing Kitai by the shoulder as he heard noise. Kitai ducked, then glanced behind them.<p>

"Where the hell is Teskai?" she demanded, careful to keep her voice low so that she would not be overheard. She forcefully exhaled, taking a quiet, yet deep, breath. Eagle turned around. He hoped that nothing would happen to the kids; he would feel personally bad if it did.

Someone gave a cry out, and Kitai instantly turned around, rushing towards her sister, who was laying on the mud. "Teskai!" she hissed, kneeling down on the mud as she looked at her sister. "It's bleeding," she whispered to Eagle, her voice laced with grim horror.

"We have to get out of here," Eagle said, seeing the shell casings just inches from Teskai. Whoever was after them would no doubt stop at nothing to get them back to Tahoma. Eagle felt nauseous at the thought.

"I am not leaving my sister behind," Kitai hissed as she took off her sweater. It had started to rain, gently. Although the rain was cold, Eagle silently thanked God. It would mean that they had a better chance of getting away without being seen. Kitai gently wrapped the sweater around her sister's leg, tightening it firmly. "Thank God it only seems to be a graze," she murmured.

"You need to go on." Eagle unzipped his sweater, noticing Kitai now was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt. "Take this," he hissed, handing it to her. "I will do my best to get your sister to safety, but one of us needs to go on ahead."

Kitai glanced at Eagle, then glanced at her sister, who was starting to wake up. The woods were silent for a minute – no birds, no owls, and absolutely no noise. Which thankfully meant no gunfire. Then Teskai spoke. "He's right, Kitai. You need to go get help – legitimate help," she said. "If we all stay here, we'll all die. Go. I know you'll come for me."

Eagle looked into Teskai's eyes and saw nothing but a fierce determination. "Go!" he hissed, pushing at Kitai as the gunfire sounded again. He bent down, his knee touching the muddy, wet ground as he bent down to pick up Teskai. He was shocked at how lightweight she was – despite being sixteen, she felt like she weighed no more than a hundred pounds. She gripped his neck, firmly. Kitai was already about a hundred feet ahead of them, her feet silent in the darkness.

They had to get the hell out of there. Eagle struggled, trying to see through the new rain. He wondered what to do. He knew he would have to go back undercover, no matter what happened, but he was desperate to get Teskai out. She didn't deserve this.

As Eagle cleared the tree field successfully, he breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at the body he was carrying again. Teskai had passed out.

_Damnit. He had to get her out of there alive, or Kitai was going to kill him._

It was then when he glanced up – and found a gun pointed squarely at his face.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. Moving," the man responded.

* * *

><p>Challenge:<p>

How badly will Alex and Eagle be punished? Will Tahoma punish Eagle, because he tried to take off with his 'merchandise', or will Snake and Wolf be able to prevent that?

When will Alex discover Snake, Eagle's, and Wolf's presence?


	20. Where'd Kitai Go?

Eagle couldn't help the scream that omitted from his mouth as Tahoma pressed closer too him. "I told you that I wanted to know where your little friend escaped too," he said, looming the knife over Eagle.

Once the man had pointed the gun at Eagle and Teskai, their recapture had been quick. Teskai had been treated by Snake and an on-sight specialist. Both Wolf and Snake, Eagle noted, looked relieved to see him back. _Did they really think he would run away from them forever_? Eagle had known that he would never get away, but wanted to try and get the kids away. It was something he'd have to communicate to them at a later date.

Certainly not now.

Tahoma paced the room, looking back between Cub, who sat perched on a chair, and Eagle, who was lying on his mattress on the dingy basement floor. "I'm not sure which one of you I'm more pissed off at the moment," he grumbled. "I'm not sure if I'm more pissed off at you, Eagle -" he let the knife slip a little bit on Eagle's skin, and Eagle winced, "Or you, Cub."

He surveyed the two of them. Eagle sat up on his bed, cupping his hand over his arm, which had started to bleed. He hoped Wolf would be here before too much longer. Wolf was in charge of playing the 'nice cop' or the 'nice guy' on the mission; always stopping things before they went too far out of hand.

Right now, Eagle would gladly take Snake, though. He would gladly take anything other than this maniac who was standing over him with a knife looking like he was about to kill him. He growled a little, trying to find something that would work as a band-aid for the cut.

Tahoma saw him searching and stalked over, grabbing him by the chin. "Don't even fucking move," he growled.

* * *

><p>Alex was terrified. He had known that he would get punished when he helped Fox. He knew he'd be beaten at the very least. He hadn't expected somebody else to get hurt because of his actions. He frowned as he glanced at Eagle.<p>

Yes, that was Eagle; Tahoma was even referring to him as Eagle. So- what was going on? First option; the K-Unit was undercover. Very unlikely; MI6 only used trained experts. And he'd only seen someone he'd _thought_ looked like Snake. So... That was unlikely. Second option... Eagle had been kidnapped, too, and forced into slavery? The probabilities were small.

Then Wolf walked down the stairs. Alex let out a fresh hiss of frustration, reminding Tahoma of his presence. "I didn't say you could speak!" Tahoma crowed, walking over to Alex and jabbing him with a knife a little.

"Hey, easy on the kid, unless you want to be facing Children's Services charges," Wolf responded, running his hand through his hair. "That was Jason; he just got off the phone with Sasha. Sasha says that Children's Services went over to your home to _check everything out_."

"I'm really going to gut this kid," Tahoma said, pointing his knife directly at Alex. "Why did they check?"

"Teskai's injury and that dude's hospital visit."

"Not _that dude_," Alex spat, determined to show Wolf he wasn't afraid of him. "That dude has a name. His name is Fo-" he was stopped roughly by Tahoma grabbing him and shoving him back against the wall.

"I don't dare keep this idiot around my house," Tahoma said, pointing the knife directly at Alex. Alex couldn't help but flinch.

"We can keep him for a couple days, to help you lay low," Wolf offered. Alex felt sick to his stomach as he tried to pierce the pieces together. Wolf was offering to help Tahoma... the terrified look on Eagle's face... _What the hell was going on?_

"I don't know." Tahoma exhaled forcefully. "That might be a good idea. I don't like to kill merchandise, and I'm afraid I'd kill this one if I looked at him much longer."

Wolf smiled. "Come on, let's go upstairs. Jason's got dinner ready."

"Thanks," Tahoma said appreciatively as he ignored the two and walked out the basement door. Wolf slammed it shut.

Alex leapt off of his seat as soon as the two were gone. "What the hell is going on here, Eagle?"

"Shut up!" Eagle hissed, putting a finger to his lips as he methodically checked the room for bugs. He sank back onto his bed in exhaustion, blinking twice as he realized he was still bleeding.

"Let me help with that," Alex volunteered as he wrapped one of Eagle's t-shirts around the bleeding area. "Hope that one wasn't your favorite."

Eagle quickly shook his head. "No way, man. When I get out of this place, I don't even want to look at anything here again."

"I know exactly how you feel," Alex muttered darkly. "Eagle? What happened?" he demanded, spitting out the questions rapid-fire. "I need to know, man."

Eagle sighed forcefully, as if he was trying to figure out what he could tell Alex. "Look, thieves of A gave Jason and Jacob a little task, okay? Just remember that not everything's as it appears. But yeah, I'm their slave now," he muttered darkly. "Remember how I was happy before, because I was free? Now I'm not, because I'm their _slave_."

Alex paused, trying to process that information. A thief of A... that was an inside joke from the SAS, he knew; referring to MI6; he forgot the exact term, something about MI6 having an I, not an A... So if 'Jacob' and 'Jason' had a little task from MI6...

"Was that Jason?" he asked, scrunching his nose. He didn't think it was.

"Nope, Jacob. Looks like a Wolf, doesn't he?" Eagle asked, and Alex saw the look on his face clearly.

"Yeah, he does," Alex said, getting Eagle's intent. So Jacob was Wolf. "So does Jason look like a Snake? And do you add names to all your handlers?"

That got Eagle to laugh, which hadn't been Alex's intent, but Alex smiled anyway. Eagle had seemed pretty depressed (although he couldn't say he blamed Eagle, after all, being captured by bad guys wasn't the best). "Yes, Jason does look like a snake, and yeah, I give names to them. I mean, after all, they don't call us by our real names, right?" He asked with a shrug.

Alex nodded. He was still trying to figure everything out. _A little task from the thieves of A... _so it appeared that MI6 had sent 'Jason' and 'Jacob' - Wolf and Snake, now, obviously, on a mission. They were... "They're friends who moved in?" he asked. "They rent a house and share a slave together?" that sounded lame, even to himself.

"Nah, they're gay, man, if you want to believe that." Eagle's lip curled up into a smile now, and Alex could sense the revenge that the man would no doubt be plotting on the two when they all got out of there.

"They're _- wow_, didn't realize that." Alex guessed that Wolf and Snake were only gay because of their cover; unfortunately, he had no way to know whether he was right or not. Not that he really wanted to care at the minute; that wasn't the information that he was after. Taking a breath, he exhaled forcefully. "So what did you do to piss Tahoma off?"

Another smile from Eagle. "I tried to escape. I knew thieves of A - meaning Jason and Jacob, of course; would just bring me back, even if I did get away, but I wanted to, well, help the kids out," he finished lamely, hearing the footsteps on the stairs.

That made sense to Alex. Eagle knew that even if he escaped Snake and Wolf, the MI6 would capture him and force him to complete the mission. Of this, Alex had absolutely no doubt. So the girl who was shot - that Tahoma had yelled at him for - Teskai - might've insinuated it. The door opened, and Wolf and Tahoma came back down the stairs.

"Get back on the bed," Tahoma said, gesturing at Eagle with his knife. At Eagle's concerned look, Tahoma snorted, grabbed him by his shoulders, and practically threw the man at the bed. "I'm not into you that way, although I think Jacob may be."

Alex would have smirked had the situation not been so dire. So 'Jacob' was Wolf - good to know. Most likely sent undercover by MI6. Why? He still wasn't sure on that; he'd have to work it out for himself. Maybe Fox would know.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm only into Jason at the moment." Alex could sense that Wolf wasn't really into Jason - Snake, he reminded himself - all that much. He flashed an inward grin. He'd have to make fun of them later. "Which one of you little brats took off with Kitai?"

"Who is she?" Eagle asked, pretending to be confused. Alex sensed that was only an act; he was fairly sure - although he wasn't sure how he knew - that Kitai was Teskai's sister. Then it hit him.

_Kitai and Teskai had been the two girls talking in French as he'd called the ambulance for Fox_! So he had helped them escape, in a way, by not drawing attention to them. He swallowed, unsure how he felt by that revelation. He knew Teskai was recaptured - was Kitai not?

"Teskai's sister, you dumbass," Tahoma said as he backhanded Eagle. Eagle winced, moving back away from Tahoma.

"That's not my name," Eagle grumbled, pretending to be extremely interested in one of his shoes. It was then that Alex noticed that the shoes were not the Converse that Eagle liked to wear, but that they were old, beat-up, sneakers.

"I can see why Jason gets so frustrated with him," Tahoma said, turning towards Wolf. "How do you deal with him?"

Wolf shrugged. "I usually let Jason deal with him... Eagle, come on. We know you took off with Teskai. Did Kitai go with you?"

"I don't know who you mean," Eagle replied. Alex knew he was lying only because of the conversation they'd had earlier. He smiled inwardly at the put-on look on Eagle's face. If Eagle hadn't been so into SAS, he could have done great at the spy stuff for MI6.

"Maybe she took off when Cub called for help," Tahoma said, suddenly turning towards Alex. "Did you see anyone running away when you were talking on the phone - _which you weren't supposed to be doing?" _he added. He exhaled forcefully. "God, I need some crack. Maybe Jason and I can go snort some later."

"I'm sure he'd like the invite," Wolf said, raising only one eyebrow. He was glad that he didn't have to worry about taking things with drugs for his undercover role. He quickly changed the topic. "Come on, Eagle. You took off with Kitai's sister. You really want me to believe that Teskai would leave her sister behind in this dump?"

"I don't know who she is!" Eagle whined, his voice more high-pinched. Alex swallowed hard as he saw Tahoma move towards Eagle, pinning his arm down in a flash. Within seconds, three new scrapes marked Eagle's arm, and Eagle was bleeding freely. "I don't know," he added, seeing the blood trail down his arm. Another scrape was added.

"No, stop!" Alex said, unable to stand Eagle being tortured any longer. Eagle looked up at him and shook his head, like, _what the hell do you think you're doing_? Before either could say anything, though, Alex continued. "I saw Kitai," Alex said, knowing he'd get a beating and a half. But it was true. Even though Kitai was with someone, probably Eagle and Teskai, he couldn't let Eagle get hurt. Not when Eagle had been the only one to befriend him of the K-Unit. "It was me," he added miserably. "I let her escape."

## break ##

Challenges done by Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur, so be sure to make sure that you answer as many of them as possible!

1) Will Tahoma leave Alex with Snake and Wolf? If so, how long?  
>2) IF Alex goes with Snake and Wolf, will the roles be broken as slave and<br>master? Or put into full swing.  
>3) How will Eagle, Tahoma, and Wolf react to Alex's outburst? And will Alex<br>get punished for letting Kitai escape?  
>4) Where is Kitai now?<p>

_Enjoy! And please don't kill me for the cliffhanger... _


	21. No Beating For That Comment

Alex, much to his surprise, hadn't been beaten by Tahoma for his statement that he'd let Kitai escape. Wolf had looked amused, Eagle looked really, really surprised and a mixture of pissed off, and Tahoma just rolled his eyes and backhanded him. That was all Alex saw of Tahoma the rest of the week, much to Alex's personal relief.

In all honesty, he figured that the last thing Tahoma wanted to do right now, especially after it looked like Kitai escaped, was make a big scene. The drug ring planning that Snake had been supposed to be doing was put off until a later date. Alex was personally relieved, knowing he'd been supposed to help with that. He didn't want to help put drugs on the street, undercover mission or not.

Instead of going back to Tahoma's, Alex was kept at Snake's and Wolf's house. Or, more accurately, Jacob and Jason's house. Alex just thought of them as their undercover roles, separating them from their usual selves. It was lame, but it was how they all had to act. He _knew_ it would be better for him if he just rolled over and cooperated, but he couldn't help acting out. It simply wasn't in his nature. He had gotten smacked several times by Wolf after failing to be quiet.

Eagle was "forced" to spend spent most of his time down in the basement by himself. Last Alex heard, when he'd talked to Eagle, the man was "studying for his GED so we can all look more legitimate" in all of his free time.

Alex guessed that Snake was really just giving Eagle some free time to recover while making it look like he was punishing Eagle. According to Snake's story, if one wanted to believe it, he and Wolf were legal guardians of Eagle. Alex had expected to have been beaten when he'd asked the question about their ownership of Eagle, and was surprised when Snake gave him an outright answer.

That had just been this afternoon. This afternoon marked the one-week date since Eagle's recapture and Fox's beating that had landed him in the hospital. Alex was growing worried about Fox, since he hadn't seen him since the two had been separated.

And it marked the five -week date since Alex's abduction. One month. One week held by Jack's maniac boyfriend; one week where he'd watched his caretaker get shot and her boyfriend get shot; and three weeks being held hostage by this maniac; another week being held hostage by the man who wanted to sell them. It meant that Fox had been held hostage for six weeks because he'd dared to protect Alex Rider.

Alex wanted to go home, but he had no home to go home to. He had decided that he'd happily settle for some news about Fox, but doubted he'd get that, either. In lieu of those two items, he'd settled on an answer for Eagle's "ownership" by Snake and Wolf, hoping to get a better feel for whether they were actually undercover or not. Alex had a fairly good feeling that they were undercover, and felt better after hearing Snake's "story".

_"Is Eagle your slave? If he is, how do you communicate that to the outside world? I mean, it's not like you can just walk up to the police station and say I've got a slave," Alex had said, pausing as he'd finished washing one of their dishes. _

_Snake snorted. "Well, actually, we could. You know, Tahoma has a thumb in almost every police station within a fifty-mile radius. Pretty impressive, right?" His voice took on a warning tone. "Eagle is our adopted son. He has a lot of learning disabilities. He can barely read at a kid's level," Snake scoffed, seeing Eagle come up the stairs. "He's not capable of being his own guardian."_

_"That's bullshit and you know it," Eagle had outcried then. Alex knew that Eagle was frustrated with the ongoing verbal abuse. Although Snake hadn't stepped up Eagle's physical punishments, probably wanting to avoid the wrath of the Children's Services agent that had come to their home. He'd also probably wanted to avoid hurting his friend. To look legitimate to Tahoma, he had stepped up the verbal taunts and insults. Alex wasn't surprised; he knew the house was bugged, and guessed that Snake wanted to look good to whoever was bugging the house without actually hurting his friend. "Come on, what happened to that story that I'm fucking autistic?"_

_Snake looked rather amused at Eagle's sudden outburst, and, much to Alex's surprise, didn't slap Eagle. He also didn't address Eagle's comment about being autistic. Instead, he simply asked, "Are you done with your pony book now?" _

_Alex could see Eagle biting his tongue, undoubtedly so he wouldn't get beaten. Eagle then took a deep breath. "I c-came up here for l-lunch." Ever since his recapture, Alex had noticed that Eagle stuttered more often when talking to Snake and Wolf. Alex didn't know how much stuttering he'd done before he'd been recaptured when talking to the two, so he had nothing to compare his notes too. He'd be worried, but Eagle still talked the same to him, so Alex guessed it was all an act. _

_"Lunch? Who said you got lunch? Actually, I believe that __**I **__said you couldn't speak so..." Snake tsk-tsked as he looked at Eagle. "That means no lunch for __**BOTH**__ of you."_

_"That's not fair!" Alex said, avoiding Eagle's sudden, downcast look and flushed face. Alex didn't blame him from being frustrated. Eagle had to be at least 23, maybe more like 25, and here someone else was, dictating when he could and could and couldn't speak, who he could speak with and couldn't speak with, labeling him with a diagnosis he didn't have, and telling him that he wasn't allowed to eat. "That's - that's child abuse! You didn't feed him last night, either," he added as an afterthought. _

_Wolf came into the room, laughing openly at the absurdity of the statement. "You really think he cares about that?"_

Later, though, Wolf had come down and given them food, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Alex was munching on now. It had been a week since he'd seen Tahoma, much to Alex's relief. Eagle had bypassed the lunch, saying he wasn't hungry. Alex wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or lying so that Alex could have two sandwiches, since Alex had also been forced to skip supper last night. Rather than have Eagle get in trouble for not eating, and have he get in trouble for leaving something lying around, Alex had polished off the second sandwich. He left one glass of water for Eagle and polished another one off for himself.

At least with all the time they were spending in the basement, the basement had a light that they could turn on and off, and the basement was basically clean. It meant that they were less likely to get sick in this torture chamber. Alex sighed, resting his hand on Eagle's forehead. He was worried the SAS man wasn't feeling well, and that the mission was taking its toll on him. Snake and Wolf had a tough part to play, sure, and Alex knew they didn't want to hurt their friend, but they were. Alex breathed a sigh of relief when Eagle's forehead wasn't warm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eagle mumbled, brushing Alex's hand away. He sat up, brushing hair out of his eyes.

"Making sure I didn't need to call 999 for you," Alex said with a loose smile, trying to make a joke.

"Nah, I don't want beat up a second time, like Fox. And hey, you absolutely did the right thing there - -that took guts," Eagle added hastily, catching that Alex looked upset. Both paused as there was the sound of a third pair of footsteps on the ceiling upstairs.

"Tahoma," Eagle hissed to Alex. Alex had thought that, too. He couldn't explain how, but he just _knew. _"If he asks, I'm sick," Eagle said. Eagle darted back into bed, covering himself with his blanket. Alex sighed as he felt Eagle's forehead again, counting on his other hand as Tahoma and Snake came downstairs. Eagle's forehead felt hot. _Not good,_ Alex thought; the last thing they needed was Eagle to have the flu.

"I want a piece of him, Jason. I know he's your slave, but he helped _my _property and _my _merchandi..." Tahoma's voice trailed off as he looked at Alex. "What the hell are you doing?" He grabbed Alex by his shoulders and shoved the teenager back against the brick wall. Alex moaned in pain as he felt his head slam against the concrete wall.

"Hey," Snake warned. "Look, I want to beat the kid's ass too, but you have to remember we're already on suspicion for Children's Services. They're bound to start snooping around here if you keep leaving black-and-blue marks on the kid. What were you doing, Cub?" he asked, using the Breacon Beacons nickname that Alex hoped never to hear again after he was "rescued."

"E-Eagle is s-sick."

"He was fine when he was blasting me about his diagnosis for lunch." Snake sighed as he moved in front of Tahoma, trying to block Alex from Tahoma's view. "I'll tell you what. You have eight minutes alone with Eagle; say whatever you want to say. I'd rather you didn't mark him permanently; we're his supposed legal guardians and I'd rather not go down for child abuse." Snake _hoped _that Eagle was only faking it, that Eagle was awake, and that Eagle would start screaming if he was being hurt. Although how he was supposed to help Eagle without blowing his cover was still unknown.

"I'll see what I can do," Tahoma said dryly. "Leave this one down here too," he added as an afterthought. "He needs to see what happens when people try escape."

"B-but I wasn't trying to escape, s-sir. I was just trying to..."

"You used the phone, and in my book, that's attempting to escape." Snake flashed Alex some sort of look and went upstairs, ignoring the comment that Tahoma had made about the phone. Alex recognized the look after Snake went upstairs: _watch Eagle._

_Yeah, Snake, because I'm going to be so much help against a madman with a knife, _Alex thought as he took in a breath. It was then when he opened his eyes and realized that Tahoma did, indeed, have a knife.

"Leave him alone!" Alex said, stepping up to protect Eagle.

Tahoma only laughed. "Why the hell would I do that?" He backhanded Alex, sending the teen spiraling onto the floor. The knife flashed dangerously close to Alex. "Sit there, or I'll gut him. I swear to God I will."

"He's n-not feeling well," Alex said, trying desperately to distract Tahoma from his impending wrath that he was bound to inflict upon Eagle.

"I don't fucking care." Tahoma rarely cussed, so when Alex heard him using the 'F' word, Alex backed down instantly, sinking onto the floor as Eagle was shaken awake.

"Wake up," Tahoma growled. When Eagle didn't dart awake instantly, Alex worried. Eagle had been awake only a few minutes before and usually responded instantly to being shaken. He hoped his friend was just pretending, but it didn't look like it. Alex didn't like it, Eagle had been fine earlier; so why was he sick?

"Get up!" When Tahoma's second, irate shake didn't wake the man up, Tahoma grabbed his knife, and stabbed Eagle viciously in his arm. Eagle omitted a small cry of pain, but kept his eyes tightly closed. Alex was about two seconds away from running up the stairs and grabbing Snake when Tahoma stabbed Eagle again.

"Leave him alone!" Alex was about to try and take down Tahoma himself when the basement door opened. Suddenly, three officers, dressed in full uniform, approached them. Their guns were drawn, and they looked pissed.

"Drop the knife!" The first CO19 Force Firearms Unit officer shouted. Little did either Tahoma, Alex, or Eagle know that this particular officer was Kitai's and Teskai's father, and he was pissed.

"No!" Tahoma said. He quickly grabbed Alex, who was already standing, and placed a knife to his neck. "You come any closer, and I'll swear to God I'll shoot both the kid and the asshole on the bed!"

* * *

><p><em>Five Minutes Earlier <em>

The door to Snake's and Wolf's house flew open, and Snake was shocked to see a unit full of officers fly into the room. He could easily see the CO19 Force Firearms Unit badges stickered onto of their vest. Snake had his weapon drawn, half-expecting someone else from the neighborhood to drop in, as Tahoma had, but it wasn't so.

"Drop your weapon!" The first one said. They grabbed Snake's hand and wrestled him down to the floor. "You're under arrest. You have the right too…"

_Shit,_ Snake thought as he looked at Wolf, who was also being wrestled to the floor, _it looked like their mission was just about to be blown to hell..._

* * *

><p>Challenge:<p>

1. Are these good cops, or bad cops? If Snake and Wolf choose to disclose that they are MI6/SAS, will the Co19 Force Firearms Unit believe them?

2. If the cops don't believe Wolf and Snake, how will they get themselves out of trouble?

3. How will Eagle, Alex, and Fox fare? Where are Teskai and Fox?


	22. Tears of Hope, Mixed With Bullets

"Just take a second and calm down, sir." Telling the man to calm down was the last thing that Sergeant James Halifax wanted to do. This was the bastard who had held his daughters hostage for six months, after all. He'd never forget Helena's distress when they'd found her, and he prayed daily that his youngest, May, was still alive. He'd heard Helena's distress when she'd said that May had been shot.

It was something he'd never forget.

_Flashback_

_"Daddy!" Helena flung herself into his father. Their mother had passed away when Helena was six, May five, and the family, which had already been small, grew even closer. Her face was streaked with tears. James hugged his youngest daughter, shocked at how much weight she'd lost in the past six months._

_But she was alive, and that was what mattered. Everything else they could recover from. Her face was streaked with tears._

_"Oh, thank God," he breathed, hugging her. He knew her sister was still missing, but there was a chance that she was alive. He had hope again._

_Until Helena told him the next sentence. _

_"Daddy," she said, tears running down her eyes, "May has been s-shot."_

End flashback

He'd heard the whole story: How someone had been willing to help them escape; one of the other slaves. The other slave had been discouraged because he hadn't really had anyone to go back too, but legitimately wanted to help his daughters escape. The man could have run when May was shot, and probably escaped to freedom. Instead, he'd said he'd been trained in first aid, and told Helena to run ahead for help.

A week later, they were raiding the neighborhood that had held his daughters hostage, and he was determined to save every slave, and arrest every last bastard who had helped hold his daughter hostage, as well as the other slaves. Suddenly, holding his pistol out at the man, a thought occurred to him. "Sir, you can't shoot us all. That's a knife." _This guy has got to be on crack, _he thought, noticing some of the signs.

* * *

><p>Sweat drops were running down Alex Rider's face, causing him to nearly want to drop. Eagle was still bleeding – not much, just a little bit – from the madman's stab wound. Alex was fairly certain that he had a fever, and worried. Thank god the rescuers, or those who had seemed to be the rescuers, came when they did.<p>

"I don't care. I have a gun that I'm two seconds away from pulling out. How bad would it be on your record if you let this brat die? I don't give a shit about him. How bad would it kill you if I stabbed this bastard on the bed?" With that, Tahoma shoved Alex to the floor, and grabbed his gun, firing a shot at the sergeant. The sergeant didn't hesitate as he blasted back, sending a bullet into Tahoma, killing the man who had put his daughters in pain for six months.

As the sergeant bent down help Alex, he winced as Alex shied away from the touch. "That's for all the other families that will never get justice, you bastard," he hissed as his team moved. It was his commander in chief who declared the man – if one wanted to call him that - dead.

* * *

><p>Eagle couldn't think clearly. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, not really bothering to concentrate. Men had swarmed the basement, and he hadn't paid much attention to them. He'd heard a gun fire, but something wasn't going right.<p>

Maybe Snake's drugs he'd been giving him in the morning (a legal herbal supplement) was having an adverse affect on him. He didn't know that what Snake had thought to be harmless had been switched out with a very low drug that was targeted for controlling individuals' actions. He heard the gunfire go off, but couldn't react.

"Hey, this one's bleeding!" Someone else said, grabbing Eagle and pulling over their blanket. "Hey, Helfix, we must've interrupted him in the middle o' something – this guy's bleeding!"

* * *

><p>James glanced at the other one, concerned. He was trying to bandage this kid's arm. The kid couldn't be any older than fifteen, and he couldn't help but think of his daughter, May. When one of his men approached the other man on the bed, the teenager he was trying to help nearly darted from his arms.<p>

"Don't hurt him!" he said angrily, nervously avoiding James' glare. "Don't touch me!" he said, backing away from James. "Leave him alone. He's been hurt too much!"

"We're not trying to hurt him, son," James said. Unfortunately, that was exactly the wrong thing to say. The teenager bristled at the man's tone. "I'm not your son. Don't touch him!" he said. "He's got a fever, and Tahoma decided to torture him today! Leave him _alone_!" he said the last part with a wailing tone, and James groaned silently, wondering how the rest of the day was going to go.

* * *

><p>Snake glanced at Wolf as the two were hauled out of the house, hoping for some guidance as to what the hell they were supposed to do. Were these legitimate cops? Would they understand the undercover thing? If they weren't, what could Snake and Wolf do? He winced at the feel of the handcuffs on his wrists. They had been fastened extremely tight, and Snake hoped he'd still be able to feel his wrists within the hour.<p>

Worse, what if these _were _legitimate cops, who denied Snake and Wolf access to the phone, or something else? They'd heard horror stories of it happening before. Snake grimaced as the one who was guarding him twisted his arm just a little too hard.

"Sit," he said, pointing to one of the cop cars. Snake growled as he was separated from Wolf, but didn't comment. Snake ducked his head in. "What's your name?"

"Jason Tanner," Snake said, using the name that was given to him for his undercover alias. He didn't know if these cops were on Tahoma's side. "Look, you can't arrest me. I haven't done anything wrong…" He and Wolf had changed their last names at the start of the mission to match each other's, more as an inside joke than anything else. Now he wished he hadn't.

"Oh, yeah?" the cop snorted. "What do you call that kid and twenty-something we found in your basement?"

"We were watching the kid for a day. The twenty-something is Jacob's and mine, legally," Snake responded.

"Oh, yeah, how is that?"

"He's retarded. We have his custody," Snake said. He knew the man wouldn't buy his story, but he just didn't trust this cop. "Look, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Trust me, we'll find something." With that, the man read him his rights and slammed the door of the cruiser. Snake swallowed worriedly. What would happen to Eagle and Alex? It seemed that the men had already proven him guilty.

A few minutes later, someone else came by the cruiser. They grabbed him by his arm, hauling him out. "Sit," he said. Snake swallowed hard. He knew some of the tactics officers used weren't always legalized and hoped they weren't allowed to be used by him. "Where is this one?"

A picture of someone was shoved in his face. Snake recognized the teenager instantly; it was the teenager who had tried to escape with Eagle. Personally, he felt that Eagle had also helped her sister escape. "Yeah, I saw her," he said, blowing his bangs out of his hair. "Teskai, she's a bitch. She tried to get away from her owner. My slave, he tried to run away with her." He rolled his eyes. _Were these good cops or bad cops? _

"Where. Is. She?"the man growled, looming closer to Snake.

"Probably Tahoma's house. Look, if you asked me," Snake said, taking his gamble that this was a cop on Tahoma's side, "They deserve it, you know? We own them."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. With that, the officer put the picture he was holding back into his pocket, and grabbed Snake by the shoulders, shoving him back into the car. "Don't you ever dare talk about my daughter that way, you son-of-a-bitch," he growled, walking away. "Matt, take this jackass before I kill him," he growled.

Shit. If this was the kid's daughter, they might be legit cops. And if they believed what Snake said…

This wasn't going to be good.

* * *

><p>Alex faded in and out of unconsciousness, groaning as he shifted on the bed. "He'll be okay. Do you think he'll need any surgery? We're rushing one up to the surgery floor, that one that was found in the same room. We're not sure what he needs yet."<p>

"I don't think he needs surgery, just cleaned up," the nurses' assistant asked him. "Hey, can you hear me? I need to know your name." When Alex blinked, he heard her groan. "Dammit. Kid, listen, pay attention, don't fall asleep. Shit – kid!"

With that, Alex faded into unconsciousness, not a care in the world. It was then when the stats on his monitor started falling.

"Clear a room!" The nurse barked, feeling for his pulse. "This one's a priority!"

* * *

><p>Challenge(S):<p>

Will Alex and Eagle be okay? If they aren't, how badly are they hurt?

Will the cops believe Wolf and Snake - especially now, given what Snake has said?

If the cops choose not to believe Snake or Wolf, what will happen to Alex, Eagle, and the others? Will the cops/rescuers believe that Eagle and Fox have disabilities?


	23. Eagle's Hundred Year Nap

_A/N: For those who don't know, the CO19 unit is a British form of SWAT. Teskai's given name is May and Kitai's given name is Helena. Their father is Sergeant James Hilflax. _

* * *

><p>It took Eagle two days to awake to consciousness; and since then, he'd only been awake for five minutes each time. His fever had skyrocketed, making both the nurses and other staff worry about him – they needed to make sure the fever was kept down to prevent infection.<p>

The police officers didn't have it easy; either. They were being stretched thin: they had to have extra guards at the station and extra guards at the hospital. It looked like most of the slaves and owners had been separated, but until they were sure, their work wouldn't be done.

Although it was a successful bust, Sergeant James couldn't help but feel like something was wrong with it: like he was missing some rather large clue that would hit him on the head.

He sighed. They were trying to have as many officers carry extra duty as possible. None of the officers minded – after all, it had been awhile since they'd allotted any overtime, and it wasn't like the work was excruciatingly difficult. Some of the officers were working on getting some of the younger children reunited with their parents; some were working on finding out who did and didn't have parents. It was a long battle.

James couldn't help but feel bad for the young man who lay on the bed. From what his daughter, May, had said, he had no family; he'd been in slavery since he was ten, rescued for only a few short years by the foster system. May said she thought he had someone but couldn't be certain; she'd said she had seen the defeated look in his eyes when talking about escape… a look that said escape was impossible, anymore.

While watching his two daughters yesterday, the sergeant had also been watching some footage that was shot from the houses. Tahoma, while trying to protect himself, had implicated himself very nicely. Yes, he was dead; but his men weren't. When his youngest daughter, May, had pointed out that she'd stayed with Jason and Jacob, two men who were under arrest and being questioned, he'd watched some of the slots of the videos recorded in their house, and had made it an object to find this guy's file.

May said his slave name was Eagle, but she didn't know his real name. Truthfully, the sergeant wanted to kill Tahoma again for that. The slaves who were still unconscious – or who were unable to speak – made the lives of the processing officers very difficult. Although this one – Eagle, he thought his daughter had said – had woken up twice, they hadn't been able to get any information out of him.

He had found a detailed profile on him, however. His real name was "Dylan", if one wanted to believe it. He was only 23. The sergeant couldn't help but feel somewhat sympathetic for him. According to the file he had been a slave since he was ten, and it didn't say anything about being rescued by foster care. The file had him listed with two "parents": the two he'd personally arrested, Jacob and Jason Tanner.

God, he hated those two. What he wouldn't give to shoot Jason Tanner, especially; the man had practically gloated about holding his own daughter hostage. He sighed, skimming through the file. He sighed, glad he didn't have to read everyone's file. The notes Tahoma made on his slaves had made him sick; the notes Tahoma had made on his daughters had almost made him go and burn where he would be buried.

_Jason (he's much better with the slave, GOD Jacob is too light on him) says that Eagle has mental retardation and can't be trusted. He says that he's also got severe learning disabilities. _ _Translation: He's stupid, and nobody else will trust him. I assisted helping Jason file for legal custody of him. Was he ever pissed, but he didn't say anything. He's learning._

James had watched the beating Tahoma had given Eagle for the crime of simply having posters up. He'd watched the look in the man's eyes when Jason had said it would be fine to beat Eagle. He sighed, flipping open his phone. If Jason had supposed legal custody of Eagle, then they needed to revoke that, fast. He'd seen prisoners use that method to escape before.

* * *

><p>Snake almost growled as he got up. He had demanded his one phone call and had then stayed silent. The police officer had come back in and told him that nobody was allowed to get the phone call who was apart of a slave ring until everyone was arrested, and had left him there.<p>

It had been three days since Snake was in prison. He had been trying to keep to himself – made easy because he was pretty much kept to himself. He had requested several times to speak to his "partner", and that had finally been granted. He sighed and glanced over at Wolf, who now shared a room with him.

"Any ideas?" he asked, looking at him. He knew the room was probably bugged, but didn't care.

"We can't really tell them anything," Wolf growled. "I'm fairly certain that one or two of them is working for Tahoma. Well, obviously not Tahoma anymore, BUT for someone who was working for him…"

"Did they grant you your phone call?" Snake knew they could probably have revoked their charges for that, but then again, he knew all about special circumstances, too: circumstances when it would be considered too dangerous. Truthfully, if he were an officer, he probably wouldn't have let them have their phone call, either; especially since not everyone had been arrested yet.

"No," Wolf responded. "They put us in the system under our names, so there's no hope of thieves of A contacting us," he said, using the code reference for MI6.

"I'm surprised it didn't pull up the fingerprints." Snake considered this. "No, not really. I thought about trying to break out and make a call, but if it's being monitored, there's no point."

Wolf nodded, knowing what he meant. If one of Tahoma's men was working on the inside, there was no point in them trying to call MI6; the phone line would probably be recorded.

"So what do we do now?" Snake asked, looking somewhat discouraged. Wolf didn't blame him. If these cops weren't legal, they could escape more easily – or, well, they'd feel better about escaping.

Wolf himself felt displaced in his role at leader. "I don't know," he said. He glanced out the bars, where the roommates across the hall were sleeping. "I guess we hope the truth sets us free," he added lamely as footsteps pounded down the hallway.

"At least they haven't tortured us." As the looming shadow of Teskai's father appeared, Snake gulped visibly. "Yet," he added.

* * *

><p>Alex Rider was not a happy camper. He felt sick to his stomach, but well enough to get out of bed on his own. That was the first day. The second day he was able to keep solid food down, but wasn't able to eat his entire meal. The third day he was feeling better and was able to keep most of his garbage meal down.<p>

It was then he started to worry about Wolf, Snake, and Eagle. And Fox. Okay, so they hadn't been the most kind person to him. But they had tried to help him. It had become more clear. Despite what had happened to Wolf's younger brother, Alex knew he could trust them more, now.

Or at least, he hoped.

He was still trying to find out news on Fox, but the nurses just smiled sweetly, told him they didn't really know who he meant, and left him alone. He'd tried to find out about Eagle, or anyone, but not knowing was driving him insane.

It was halfway through the third day when he decided to take action on it. Slipping out of his hospital robes and into his outfit that was beside the bed, Alex carefully pulled the IV needle out of his arm, placing it on the bed.

He slipped out of the room, determined to find out what the hell was going on with the rest of the K-Unit, and why they hadn't pulled him out of the damn hospital, already.

* * *

><p>Challenges<p>

Will the sergeant get legal custody of Eagle? Will Eagle tell him what's really going on?

Will Alex be able to find out any information about what's going on, or will the nurses just politely escort him back to bed?

What card will Snake and Wolf play? The "we're good and innocent card", or the "we're badass and evil" card? Are Tahoma's cops really part of the cop force still? Will May's father punish Snake for what he said about his daughter?

Note: There will be a lot more Alex in the next chapter, I promise! I'll add an additional 100 words over what I'm planning to write for each review.


	24. Why Me? I Didn't Do It

Snake took a deep breath as he looked at Teskai's father. He knew the man was angry at Tahoma. Tahoma had been killed, and now, Teskai's father needed someone to be angry at. Somehow, Snake knew that he had moved up next on the man's shit list.

He turned around as instructed, putting his hands behind his back. The sergeant handcuffed him, not wanting to let him chance escaping. Snake glared at him as he was lead across the hallway.

"I don't see why you're questioning me," Snake said in a sulky voice as he was shoved none-too-gently into the chair. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"I'm sure you think you haven't." The sergeant sat in his chair as he adjusted his notes. "I'd like to know your full written name for the record, please," he said, turning on the tape recorder.

"I already told you," Snake responded, "It's Jason Tanner."

"Right, why do I not believe that?"

Snake seized his chance. "Well, if you must know, I'm MI6, but…"

"MI6, my ass," the sergeant responded. "How about I get a truthful story? I don't buy for a split second that you're MI6. Or any other form of law enforcement. How would you justify having a slave in your basement?"

"It was a mission," Snake started, but stopped. He knew from the murderous glare on the man's face that he'd get nowhere. Maybe he could provoke the man into giving him information. Or somehow get information. _Or, _he thought, _maybe he could provoke the man into beating him, and get to the hospital, where there was a phone_. It was worth a shot."How is Eagle?" he asked, changing the topic entirely. He wanted to know how his friend was, even though he doubted the man would tell him.

"He's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." The sergeant pulled out his files. "We have here that you have legal custody of Eagle. Is that true? He's what, 21, according to Tahoma, although I don't think that he's that young."

Snake carefully considered this. What route _should_ he take? The sergeant seemed to be a good cop, but could he really trust him? His eyes spied the camera and he knew that even if he could trust the sergeant, he couldn't trust the other people that were watching the sergeant. "Yeah, I've got custody of him," he sneered. "Stupid kid is mentally retarded and can't read above a third grade level. He can't reason, and he can't make decisions. He can't listen. You know, your daughter was like that, too."

"Yeah?" The sergeant replied, his voice evenly tempered.

"I mean, your girl didn't really follow directions, either. She didn't really like to listen, and she persuaded our slave to run away. I don't know why she did – there was nobody for him to go home too. I mean, we provided him with a home, a shelter…"

The sergeant only grunted. "Yeah, talking about that. You're not going to get to care for him while he's in jail. I need you to figure out what you'd like to do with your custody of him."

"We only got custody of him to make it look good on paper," Snake said with a snort. "I don't care shit what you do. But I _will _come for him again," he added. _What would it take to make this man mad enough to punch him? _"And you know, I might visit your daughter too. She seemed… well, nice enough to visit."

"Well, for now," the sergeant said, ignoring what Snake was implying, "I'll need you to sign this paper."

"What's the paper of?" Snake asked. "Does it mean I can get free drugs?"

"I want temporary custody of Eagle," the sergeant said, not batting an eye in lying that the paper had permanent custody written on it. He pushed the paper on it. "Sign that paper, and we'll see if we can work out any sort of deal."

Snake bit his lip. On one hand, this was probably the best option – the sergeant could be probably trusted to care for Eagle. His own daughters had been held hostage for the rink. On another hand, he could be sealing Eagle's fate, especially if the man labeled him as MR.

"Fine," he said, taking the pen the man offered and scribbling his name on the paper. At least when MI6 decided to get their asses over here, he could get it revoked. "By the way, I'd like to see your daughter again. Maybe check out her bullet wound and make sure she was oka…"

The sergeant walked over to where Snake was calmly, although Snake knew he wouldn't seem calmer for much long. Snake didn't fail to notice. "You fuck with my daughters or my son," he said, now claiming Eagle as his own, "and I will not hesitate to kill you, badge or not." With then, he shoved Snake onto the floor, and the chair toppled over. Snake winced as he was kicked violently twice in the back of his ribs, and left on the floor as the sergeant left the room in disgust.

Before Snake passed out, he could clearly hear the sergeant say, "Matt, get in here and rescue him before I decide to kill him. I have to go do some paperwork."

* * *

><p>Eagle moved in front of the mirror, lifting up his shirt. He'd finally been allowed to change into jeans. He had not been allowed to ask information about Wolf or Snake <em>(don't worry about that, honey, you just focus on getting better<em>), hadn't been allowed access to a phone, _(we'll have to see what your guardian says about that), _and hadn't been allowed to know how any other slaves were doing _(I can't tell you; that would be breaking confidentiality, I'm sorry)_.

The bruises he'd gotten from his beating when he'd escaped were gone, finally, but there were still some scars from where Tahoma had tortured him. He dropped his shirt down in embarrassment when the man walked in the door. "H-hi," he stuttered. He'd taken up his stuttering routine again. He wasn't sure who he could trust, and he was trying to make himself look weaker than he really was, should he be jumped by one of Tahoma's men. He'd heard Tahoma was dead, although he didn't know if that was true or not. He exhaled forcefully, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, son. I'm Sergeant Halifax," the man said, extending his hand to Eagle. Eagle looked at it him, then took his hand and shook it hesitantly.

"Hi," he said, getting back on the hospital bed.

"I'm your new guardian," the man said, sitting down in the hospital chair.

Eagle blinked twice, feeling like someone had slapped cold water on his face. _Guardian_? What the hell? He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "I-I… what?" he said.

"I should retrace and let you know what's been happening. Firstly, I have your name as Dylan. Is that correct?"

_So nobody had told him that Eagle was an MI6 operative. That probably meant that they still didn't know where Fox was, and that someone would be trying to put Alex in foster care, and that Snake and Wolf were god knows where_. "Yeah," he said, not bothering to correct the man. He did decide to bring up one issue, though. "J-Jason and Jacob T-tanner. They were my guardians. W-what happened?"

The man sighed. "They've been arrested," he said, looking at Eagle directly. "We know that they were involved in Tahoma's slave running business, that Jason was planning on helping Tahoma start a speed ring, and that you were forced to be their slave for awhile."

_So that would be a no on "MI6 showed up, rescued everyone, and generally kicked ass_," Eagle thought to himself. "Y-you said you were my guardian," Eagle responded, changing the topic completely.

"Jason signed your custody over for the time being. I'm Teskai's father," the man explained.

Eagle breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know much about Teskai or Kitai, hell, he didn't even know their names – but he knew that Teskai had trusted her father beyond a shadow of a doubt. He didn't know the man worked in government. "So w-what do you want me to d-do for you?" he asked. There had to be some reason the man took his custody, right?

"Nothing," the man said, surprising Eagle. "I've seen people use caring for their children as an excuse to get out of jail before. You went to a lot of trouble to save my daughters, and I don't want to see anything happen to you."

Eagle nodded, taking a steadying breath. _Okay, so that was probably a good thing. Now time to start being overly obnoxious and start asking questions. _ "I guess," he said, making sure he looked unconvinced, because he was. Normally, he would have started to push the _we're good guys, we're MI6, we finished this mission and we want the hell out of here _card, along with the card that said _I'm not mentally retarded, you dumbass, _but he'd seen a few of the people that had worked for Tahoma crawling around and thought it a bad idea to announce that, especially without MI6 around as backup. "What happens next?"

* * *

><p>Mrs. Jones glanced at the news, watching it as she ate her morning breakfast. Normally, nothing held her interest anymore. Someone had been murdered on the subway last night? Okay, she would skip taking the nine o'clock train. Not that she would anyway; with her salary she lived close to the Royal and General bank and had an excellent car with bulletproof windows.<p>

"In other news today, a massive bust on a drug trading ring also found that dozens of other slaves were being held hostage as well – some as young as 10 and some as old as 35." The man flashed to a picture where three people were shown being helped out of the building by law enforcement officers.

Mrs. Jones nearly lost her coffee. One of those looked like Eagle, the man from SAS who had been hired on at the last minute to portray the slave. And that neighborhood looked suspiciously familiar…

"Tahoma, the ringleader of the infamous gang, was shot by a member of our local C019 Unit. Dozens of men were arrested in connection to the gang. One man arrested was Jason Tanner, who threatened two girls who had been previously held in captivity and was holding a developmentally delayed man as a slave, forcing him to…"

Mrs. Jones stared at the picture. She knew the arresting officer was one of Tahoma's men that they'd marked to take down, but there was no doubt that the person being arrested was Snake.

Damn. That meant a call to Blunt. Leave it to the K-Unit to spoil her morning cup of tea.

* * *

><p>Alex Rider was pissed off. Actually, pissed off didn't even really begin to describe how he felt about the situation. Nobody had told him anything about what was going on, and he wanted to find out. The only problem was he didn't know how.<p>

And he needed to know how.

He'd asked for information on Ben, using his slave name (_I don't personally call anyone Fox, can't help you there_), using his real name, Benjamin Daniels, _(nope, nobody in the hospital by that name_), and by his alias. There had been no information there, either.

He'd also asked for information on "Dylan" – Eagle's undercover alias. No information there, either.

With a forceful exhale, Alex slipped out of his room and made his way down the hallway. The first trick that he had was to pretend like everything was normal. They'd put all the adults and teenagers that had been rescued in the same hospital, not separating them out by age. This made it easier for the guards. Whether they were all on the same floor or not time would only tell.

Alex stopped after a few feet when he heard someone who sounded a lot like Eagle. Sliding to the right, he heard the question tentatively asked: _"So w-what do you want me to d-do for you?" _Apparently, Eagle had taken up stuttering again.

_If Eagle hadn't been so against spying, he would have made a great spy for MI6,_ Alex thought. Eagle was excellent at playing his character. He knew when to be docile, when to act out… and just generally enveloped the role.

After hearing the pause, Alex pushed the door open. "Eagle!" he exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. Wanting to look like a scared and worried teenager, he launched into Eagle's arms, giving him a hug. "T-hey won't tell me anything about Fox!"

"I'm the wrong person to ask," Eagle said, giving the other man a weird look. "They won't tell me anything, either."

"Unfortunately," the first man said, "because of case file issues and all that, we have to have most information quiet about others. I can try and help you find out, though."

"I don't want your help," Alex said sullenly, reverting back into the 'sullen and sulky' teenager role. "I want to know about Fox."

"I will see what I can find out," the man promised as he stood for his bed. "Dylan," he said, and Alex guessed he was addressing Eagle, "They tell me you're in the hospital for another day or so, then I'll take you home to my home and we can start getting things worked out, okay? I'm going to go and get my daughter, May – I believe you know her as Teskai?"

Eagle slipped back into his role, putting on his 'I'm not-really-timid-but I want you to believe it' face. "Yeah," he said. Then his face brightened. "She's okay?"

"She'll be fine," the man responded.

_So this was Kitai's father_, Alex thought. "I'm going to find out about Fox," he said, taking off towards another door. He sighed as he looked around the room, scanning through the police officers, wondering if any of them were from Tahoma's old crew.

It was when he saw the two who were almost manhandling Fox that he knew he was right.

* * *

><p>Fox wasn't happy. In fact, one would go so far as to say he was downright pissed. He hadn't seen Alex in over a week, and had spent most of <em>last <em>week fading in and out of unconsciousness. He'd just regained consciousness when Tahoma had started drugging him with a supplement that hadn't reacted well with his body chemistry, and then he'd fallen back unconscious again.

He'd heard through the grapevine (Alex) that Snake and Wolf were there. Alex had been able to talk for five minutes and had mentioned that Eagle was a slave. While Fox knew Wolf and Snake well enough to know they wouldn't have Eagle as a slave, he hadn't been able to gleam enough information out of Alex to get the information he needed.

The man who had helped him down the hallway helped him back to his room. Fox knew he was one of Tahoma's cops. Fox sighed as another nurse began to fill his IV again. What he _didn't _know was that she was one of Tahoma's cops, and his primary reason why he still was sick. She was still drugging him to sleep.

Within five minutes, everything had faded to black for Fox and he was in the land of unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Wolf wasn't happy. If he'd read his friend right, Snake had been somewhat… <em>timid<em>… to go with the oncoming officer. He must not have read his friend right, though, because Snake was never timid.

He sighed as his "partner" was escorted back into the room. Snake's handcuffs were unlatched, and he slowly sank down into his bed.

"I hate orange," Snake muttered, picking at the fabric threads of his jumpsuit as the man walked towards the door.

"Should've thought of that before you committed a crime," the first man said without a drop of compassion. Wolf inwardly grinned, those sounded like the words he'd said to criminals many times before.

"I didn't commit a crime," Snake said, scowling. "I gave a mentally retarded man a home. What more do you want from me?"

The man sighed as he turned around. "Would have helped if you hadn't beat him and done unspeakable other crimes, and if you had been a little less interested in your _partner _–" he purposely sneered the word _partner_ – "and a little more interested in caring for him."

"You have a problem because I'm gay?" Snake asked coldly. While none of the K-Unit – at least as far as Wolf knew – were gay, Wolf knew the man had made a big mistake when sneering that particular word. Snake's brother had died because he'd been beaten for the "crime" of being gay – one of the things that had made Snake decide to join the SAS. Wolf sighed, hoping Snake would be able to refrain from punching the officer. The last thing they needed right now were _more _charges.

"Jason, chill," he said, standing up. "The man probably just doesn't want us having sex in his jail, in front of him, alright? Just take a chill pill." He turned to the police officer. "However, if you threaten my _husband_ again," he said, making sure to use a word that would make Snake blush, "You won't live until tomorrow, and they'll never find your body."

The man turned, practically running out of the cell.

"Nice, Jacob," Snake muttered under his breath as he sat back down on the bed. "Eagle's never going to let us live that one down."

"Yeah, well, that may not matter," Wolf muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" he said, noticing Snake's wince.

"I may have threatened one of the guy's daughters a little bit," Snake said, placing a hand against his ribs. "I'm okay, really," he said at Wolf's darkening glare. "Got a miracle plan for getting us out of here?"

"Not yet," Wolf muttered, "Go to sleep, _sweetie,_ and give me until morning to figure something out."

Snake yawned appreciatively. "Two tings wrong with that plan."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Well, number one, that assumes we _live _until morning. And number two… that assumes you can 'figure something out.'"

"I've bailed us out of tighter situations than this," Wolf said, more to himself than Snake. He took a steadying breath. "'Course, I wasn't pretending to be your husband in any of them, either."

Snake huffed. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a comment."

"You just did," Wolf returned. He sighed as Snake fell asleep, watching the rising and the falling of Snake's stomach. His thoughts churned with worry for Fox, Alex, and Eagle. How the hell were they all going to get out of there in one piece?

And where the _hell_ was MI6 – eating their breakfast and drinking their damn tea?

They needed a rescue plan, fast, and he needed to be the one to come up with it.

* * *

><p>Thanks to all the awesome reviewers! This chapter is 3,200 words (give or take a few). I tried to include all of the K-Unit. Hope you enjoy! So since it's a longer chapter… I want longer responses to challenges! Or just any review is fine. This chapter, your bribe is every review adds 100 words onto Alex's section next chapter. Feel free to pick a challenge or respond to them all, or just say 'please update.'<p>

_Challenge: _

Who will come up with the plan to get everyone out? Will it be Alex, Wolf, Snake, Eagle, Fox, or MI6?

Will MI6 do anything to rescue them?

How will Eagle get along with his new "guardian?" Will he be able to convince him of the truth? What does his new guardian want/hope to do for/with Eagle? Is he good, or bad?

What will Alex do next?


	25. Playfully Sleeping Foxes

Alex Rider took a shuddering breath as Fox was escorted back to the room. Great. He didn't know what to think. They probably needed MI6's assistance now, but there were still various people working for Tahoma. He had no idea what to do. He removed himself from the scene where Eagle was still talking to his new guardian and back to Fox's room.

He was too late; Fox had already fallen asleep, and Alex sighed. So much for talking to his friend or asking him how he was doing. Alex growled subconsciously, moving towards Fox's medical records. He flipped them open, looking at the medication list Fox was currently on. He sighed as he shut it, wishing he had Snake's medical knowledge. Snake would be able to know exactly what the medical records were and what information they contained.

A nurse poked her head in the room, and Alex froze. This was clearly Tahoma's wife. How had she gotten away in the scuffle? He remembered her all too well. "You need to be back in your room, honey," she said in a sickly sweet voice. Alex felt like gagging.

"H-He's my brother," Alex said, adopting Eagle's stuttering method. "I j-just wanted to see him."

She suddenly had a changed expression, and Alex could have sworn he saw something like sympathy flash across her face. "I'll see what I can do about changing your room," she said simply, "But for now, we need you back in your room, honey. You can't just walk across the halls like this."

Alex put on a pouting expression, but followed her back anyway to his room. She left him in there and glanced at his chart, scribbling a note before leaving the room. He lay on his bed, pretending to be asleep. He didn't eat either his lunch or his dinner. He was waiting – waiting for his time to make a move.

He knew the hospital wasn't staffed well at midnight. Sure, there were guards, but what would they think of a teenager walking around in jeans and a t-shirt? Probably not much. Alex slipped out of his room and slipped into a different t-shirt than the one he'd been wearing earlier, determined not to give himself away. Nighttime also only brought the total number of police officers down to five instead of thirteen.

Slipping down to Eagle's room, Alex was surprised to hear sounds of a struggle. He paused for a minute outside his door.

"What did you tell the sergeant?" he heard someone say.

He heard Eagle's panicked voice answer. "N-Nothing," Eagle stuttered. "I d-didn't tell him n-nothing."

"Yeah? Then why he want to take care of you? You a special case, or something?"

_If only he knew the truth_, Alex smirked. Deciding he'd had enough of his friend being hurt, he slunk into the room. Eagle was cradling his arm and sitting on his bed, looking incredibly put out. Alex reflected that it looked more like he'd been told that he couldn't play on the playground rather than that he'd been physically injured, and that it looked like he'd been actually been injured since his hospital stay. He did _not_ remember Eagle's arm being that bad when he'd been in there earlier.

"I-I do-don't know." Eagle looked down at the ground, seemingly finding one of his shoes extremely interesting. Alex knew better, though; he'd seen that look multiple times at the house. It had always been right after Snake had blasted him for doing something "wrong". Eagle was trying to figure a way out of the situation. Eagle's way of thinking usually involved answering as little as possible while thinking as much as possible.

"Hey!" Alex snapped, drawing attention to himself. Eagle gave a start, and looked at him, before turning back to the man.

"What are you doing in here?" The man's voice was stern, and Alex chilled as he realized that the man was a police officer. Okay, that explained how he'd been able to gain access to Eagle's room so easily. What it didn't explain was why it was only Eagle he was picking on…

… unless it wasn't.

_Shit_.

"I was just visiting him. I'm allowed to do that. The nurses gave me free reign of the room," Alex said. "Are you okay, Eagle?" he asked. Damn, he wasn't sure whether he should use Eagle's slave name or his undercover alias. He'd definitely have to talk to the SAS member about that.

Assuming all their conversations weren't being bugged, that was.

"He hurt me," Eagle muttered, staring at the ground again. Alex felt a surge of anger mixed with a surge of pride. _Damn, Eagle played his role so well_.

The police officer looked flustered.

"Why'd you hurt him?" Alex said, even though he had a fairly good guess. "I'm going to get a nurse," he said.

"Hey, wait!" The officer said. "I was just questioning him. You know he's mentally retarded, right? He tried to pull a behavior."

As if on cue, Eagle dropped to his bed, pulling his blanket over his body. That was all Alex needed; he moved to make a run for the nurses' station. The police officer was faster, though; he grabbed Alex by his arm.

"Let go of me!" Alex screeched. If everyone was treating him like a teenager, then dammit, he'd act his age. The police officer didn't listen, though, and quickly clamped his hand over his mouth. Eagle was out of bed in seconds, acting every bit like the trained SAS solider that he was. Alex could see him from the corner of his eye, and then, two seconds later, the police officer was down on the ground, a victim of Eagle's awesome drop kick.

"Get me something to tie up his hands, Cub," Eagle barked as he lowered his 150 pounds on the man's back. He grabbed each of the police officer's hands. "And not his cuffs, he'll probably have a spare key or one of his _friends_ will."

A quick glance of the room revealed that the bed sheet would be victim to the wrath of being used like handcuffs. Eagle grabbed it and took it, using it to tie the man's hands. Alex had to snicker as the fabric of the man's hands; it wrapped it around.

"Cub." Eagle's stern voice snapped him to attention. "Search his pockets, pull out his gun. Shove them under the bed. We've got to do a systematic room by room search and make sure none of his friends are here."

Alex nodded as he made to gag the man and then did exactly as Eagle said, shoving them under the bed. "I'll take rooms 9-14, you take the other rooms," he said.

"Wait," Eagle hissed, pointing towards the phone. The nurses' station was strangely vacant. They'd been unable to use it before because so many nurses crowded around it, and they were both considered minors, so it had been off limits. Eagle grabbed a pen from his back pocket and scribbled down a number on Alex's shoulder.

"Call the sergeant and let him know what's happening," Eagle said. "I'll start the room search."

"He's going to believe and remember me?"

"Cub, I hate to break it to you, but everyone in Hell remembered you," Eagle said, using their code name for Breacon Beacons. "Go."

Alex did as he was commanded.

* * *

><p>Eagle moved towards the rooms, checking them. The first five he'd checked were clear, and Eagle was beginning to think that his incident was solo and targeted. He wasn't surprised when all the other rooms checked out clear. Okay, so it looked like he'd been targeted. But why?<p>

_It must have been because the sergeant cared enough about him to get his custody_, he thought with a sudden revelation. After all, that was what all the man's demands had been about. He felt sick to his stomach. His arm hurt, and Eagle was sure it had gone from being sprained to being broken.

"Hey, kid, you're not supposed to be on the phone," one of the nurses said. Eagle moved closer and watched Alex hang up the phone, flashing him a smirk. Mission accomplished, at least part way. "Actually, Alex, you're supposed to be in bed."

"Yeah, and we're supposed to be p-r-protected by the officers, not hurt by them," Eagle said, speaking up, slipping back into his role.

The nurse's face changed from an appearance of being strict to an appearance of being caring. "What happened, sweetie?" she asked. Eagle sighed but was careful to keep up his chagrin his expression. Why did all of the nurses so easily believe his damn falsified diagnosis? He was going to throttle Snake when this was over.

"A-An officer hurt my arm." Eagle looked dejected again, glancing down at his arm.

"He's tied up in his room," Alex explained, as if that explained everything. At the nurse's confused look, he clarified. "The officer, I mean."

"You shouldn't have done that. Back to bed!" the nurse ordered. She glanced at Eagle, perhaps trying to remember his name, then said, "Dylan, can you sit here, sweetie?"

"I'm not your sweetie," Eagle half snarled before he dropped down to the chair obediently. He kept a firm eye on Alex as he walked off to his room, following the nurse. The nurse then motioned towards Eagle, and he obediently followed her back to the room.

"Oh, honey, you shouldn't have tied the officer up like this!" the nurse snapped. "Sit on the bed. Now."

"He hurt me! You don't understand, he hurt my arm," Eagle responded, his voice just as tense. Dammit, was she really going to allow this fucked-up police officer back on the force? He didn't know what to do, except that it was probably better to play his role, because nobody appeared to be on his side. Shit, and he hadn't even had time to find out how much Alex had told the sergeant…

The officer wasn't happy as he was untied. "This one," he said, jabbing his finger at Eagle, "Needs to be committed to an institution."

"Why don't you just go back to your post, and I'll take care of him?" It was more of a demand than a request. She obviously wasn't in the mood for the man's complains to night, and Eagle breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whatever."

"I want my guardian called," Eagle said, suddenly grateful for his label. He may as well take advantage of it. "I want to talk to him. Now."

"I'll see what I can do," the nurse said. She sighed as she glanced at his arm. "Honey, why weren't you wearing your brace? You really should be wearing that."

"I was wearing it!" Eagle snapped. "He took it off."

"Well, I'll make you a deal," the nurse said, and Eagle could tell she was in no mood for a fight tonight. "If you wear your brace again, and don't take off your sling tomorrow, I'll call your guardian. Okay?"

"Fine," Eagle pouted as he slipped on the break. _I hope you get here soon, sergeant, _he said, thinking affectionately about the SAS sergeant who had trained them all through hell. He couldn't remember the number for MI6, and was wondering if Wolf and Snake had ever given it to him in the first place.

They needed out of here. Or, at least, they needed a way to get rid of all these damn fake cops.

* * *

><p>Sergeant James Hilifax exhaled as he picked up his phone. Although he hadn't wanted to leave his daughters behind at the hospital, one of the officers had promised to look out for him. He hadn't wanted to leave his newly adopted son behind, either, but the same scenario had happened there. He was glad that both his daughters and his newly adopted son were getting out tomorrow.<p>

It looked like he was now about to get called back to the hospital. He should've just stayed there. "Hello?" he said, groggily, flipping open his phone.

"Hi, sir. You're the guardian of Dylan, correct?"

The sergeant made a mental note that he had to figure out what Dylan's last name was. May said none of them had been allowed to have last names, and that if Dylan had been a slave for that many years, it was unlikely that he would remember his last name. The sergeant was determined to help Dylan live as normal a life as possible. After all, he'd almost sacrificed his own life to help the sergeant's daughters escape.

"Yes, I am," he said, after realizing three seconds had passed without him responding. Okay, maybe he was more tired than he thought.

"We need you to come down to the hospital. Dylan is fine," she said hastily, as if knowing that would be his fist question, "but there was an… incident that we'd like to talk to you about."

"Of course," the sergeant said, wondering if he really wanted to know. He checked his watch. At least he'd gotten six hours of sleep. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

* * *

><p>Snake growled as he felt the other police officer pinning him down to the table. His hands were forced behind his back and handcuffed. "Sit – fucking – down," the officer snarled, shoving him in his seat.<p>

"What if I don't want to?" Snake snapped.

"You don't have a choice." The police officer sighed. "Look, do me a favor and stop creating a scene, alright? We're trying to get as many as you out of here as possible, but we need you to sit down and wait patiently until the time comes. Do you think you can do that?"

"Sure," Snake said. He had to talk to Wolf as quickly as possible, though; it looked like Tahoma's men were planning a jail breakout.

This was so not good.

"When can I get access to a phone?" he demanded.

"We'll work on that," the man responded. "Right now, because there are so many and it's a special circumstance, we can't allow any of you access to a phone. I'm still trying to figure out how to get that done myself, but in the meantime, just hold tight, alright?"

"Whatever," Snake growled. "You put me in the same cell as Jacob permanently, right?"

The man nodded. "At least until you're tried. Oh, and you're all being held without bail, in case you're wondering."

"Fantastic," Snake muttered as he sank back down to his seat. "Fantastic."

Now, more than ever, they needed the help of MI6… help that would probably never come.

He sighed, hoping that Eagle, Alex and Fox were okay. They'd have to take action fast, and it looked like the two SAS men were going to be the one to do it.

* * *

><p>AN: First, thanks to Torn Apart Paper Dinosuar, who has given you the challenges for this chapter. Thanks to Nightmareworld for previewing. Want to do the make the challenges for a chapter? P.M. me and ask! A special thanks to all who review.

1. When is the sargeant going to get to the hospital? Will he believe Alex?  
>2. Will any of Tahomas police get revenge on Eagle, or Alex, or any of the unit?<br>3. When will Fox wake up?  
>4. Will Snake and Wolf get their phone call? If they do get it, who will they call?<p> 


	26. Don't Let The Sergeant Strangle You

The sergeant wasn't very happy when he arrived. He had been awoken in the middle of the night to hear that Dylan had had a "behavior." He sighed as he approached the desk. "Hi. I'm here to talk to Nurse Jenkins?"

"I'm Nurse Jenkins." The nurse gave a false smile and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. There was just something about her he didn't like. "I read on your file that you've recently taken over the custody of Dylan?"

"Yes," the sergeant said with a nod. He was certain he was only seconds away from strangling her.

"Dylan attacked a police officer a few hours ago. He complained of a police officer assaulting him, and the other teenager in the room said that the police officer was 'torturing him…'"

"And I trust you've taken care of the complaints?"

"Yes, sir. The police officer was found on the floor of the room, tied with one of Dylan's bedsheets, and he was returned to the force. Dylan is sleeping."

"Did you check to see if Dylan's claims were substantiated?"

"He didn't have any evidence of being tortured-"

"I meant like checking the video tapes, talking to him and asking him what happened?" James asked. His stance was no longer friendly.

"No…"

"I want a copy of the video tape, now. I want to talk to the officer this happened to, and I want to talk to Dylan. After I get Dylan's statement, I want a discharge notice for my two daughters and Eagle."

"But the doctor said…"

"That they could be released in the morning. Surely you have a doctor on staff, right? I want them signed out before I have you arrested."

He would, anyway, but he'd get her cooperation a lot faster if he didn't arrest her yet.

Her lips tightened. "I'll have one of our officers give it to you. That officer is over there." She nodded and pointed.

"I think you're making the right choice," another police officer muttered from behind him. "I'll take care of arresting him. You talk to Dylan."

* * *

><p>Eagle was pretending to sleep as the sergeant came in. He opened one corner of his eye and watched as the sergeant came in and quickly closed it.<p>

"Dylan?"

Eagle blinked awake, and then he shot back against the wall. "Sorry," he said instantly, grimacing as he moved his arm back. Although he trusted the sergeant to some extent, he didn't know how much to totally trust him.

"It's okay," the sergeant responded. "I heard about what happened…"

Eagle hung his head.

"Look, Dylan," the sergeant said, and Eagle blinked twice. "I don't blame you. In fact, I believe you."

"Believe me?" Eagle asked, blinking twice.

"I'm signing you out of the hospital, along with May and Helena. We're going to be going to the safe house that my boss has set up until the trial."

Eagle blinked twice. _Shit._Well, that was good news for May and Helena, but for him… What could he do? The sergeant wouldn't want to let him talk to Snake or Wolf; and Fox was unconscious…

_Wait. Alex._

"Okay," Eagle said with a nod. He'd have to get word to Alex somehow.

"Here," the sergeant said as he handed Eagle a change of clothes. "I'll be back in five. I'm going to go wake up May and Helena."

Eagle could only nod.

* * *

><p>Alex Rider slunk down the hallway. He had seen the sergeant there, and suspected he was the one who had custody of Eagle.<p>

"Eagle?" he asked as he quickly made his way. The SAS man dropped his shirt on and turned around.

"Cub, thought you were in bed." Eagle stretched. "The sergeant believes me, I think."

"Well, that's good news, right?"

"Yes and no. He wants me and his two daughters to be moved to a safe house. The problem is that I have no idea where it is, and I don't know if he can be trusted. It's not like I can call…"

"Eagle!" Alex hissed. "Dylan, remember?"

Eagle tensed. "Yeah. Right," he said, faltering. "Any ideas?"

"The sergeant. You know his number, right?" Alex asked. "I called him. He's on his way. It'll take me too long to explain what I told him, but he's on his way. Is the number a cell phone…"

"Yes, it is," Eagle said. He felt a little better. "Look, the sergeants' name is Sergeant Halifax. Can you try and have _our_ sergeant contact him?"

"Yeah," Alex said. "If there's a way to find you, we will."

Eagle let out a relieved grin. "Good. By the way, do me a favor?"

"Sure," Alex said, wondering what the SAS man wanted.

"When you give your statement about Jason and Jacob, make sure to say plenty of things about how they're gay."

* * *

><p><em>9:00 A.M. the next morning<em>

Wolf sighed as he sat down in front of another police officer. He didn't know about how he felt about this guy, but it looked like he'd have to try and be polite with him. Or at least, not strangle him.

"I'm questioning you about your involvement in the ring that was broken up." The police officer pulled out his pen and a note pad. "Please state your full name for the record."

"Jacob Tanner."

"I assume you've been read your Miranda rights."

"Yes." _Would__this__guy__get__anywhere__with__his__questioning__or__would__he__just__go__in__pointless__directions?_

"I want to know what your direct involvement was with Tahoma."

"My partner was more involved than I was. I was simply learning about the operation."

"What do you know about your partner's involvement?"

"I refuse to answer anything that would implicate my partner." Another uncomfortable shift from Wolf.

"Okay, then, don't worry; we'll let him implicate himself. What can you tell me about Dylan?"

"I don't know anyone by the name of Dylan."

"Okay, then, I guess you know him by the name of Eagle," the police officer said. Wolf could see him scribbling on the paper that he had.

"Oh. You mean Jason's slave." Wolf shifted uncomfortably. "It was Jason's idea to have him as a slave. I don't know why."

The policeman nodded. "Okay, what do you know about Tahoma?"

"I know he died."

"Do you know how many other men he had working with him?"

"A lot. I'd say the number was well over a thousand," Wolf said. "I know he had some police officers working with him as well."

"Like, they bought his drugs?"

"No, like he bribed them and he's got them on the force. How do I know _you__'__re_not one of them?" Wolf growled.

"If you were one of Tahoma's men, you would certainly know. And I would appreciate it if you didn't accuse me of that; I've been on this force for twenty-seven years and I think my record more than speaks for itself."

"That's just it, though. I'm not one of Tahoma's men." Wolf leaned back in his chair. "I'm undercover. I'm from the SAS. I was sent to infiltrate the group and remove two of its prisoners, one of which has achieved MI6 status."

The police officer was temporarily speechless.

* * *

><p>Snake paced the floor of the room restlessly. 12:00 P.M. – Noon. He was technically supposed to have his lunch now, although it looked like that hadn't happened. He wondered why.<p>

"Hey," a policeman said. "Hands behind your back."

"What, am I being pulled out for transport again?" Snake snapped.

"Yes, you are." The policeman moved towards him. "We wanted to transport both you and Jacob, but it looks like we won't be able too. We're using this transport to get a few of Tahoma's men out of jail. I'll explain on the way. Just keep quiet, okay?"

* * *

><p>Challenges:<p>

Will Snake and Co get away?

What will happen to Eagle?

Will Alex be able to get word to, as Eagle put it, "Their sergeant?"

What has happened to Fox?


	27. Dylan Does Right

Eagle paced restlessly. He hadn't gone to bed after he'd been sent by the nurse. He hadn't wanted too, for one, but for another he hadn't felt safe. The adrenaline had coursed through his veins and hadn't allowed him to sleep.

He glanced up guilty as he saw the sergeant come in and quickly made his way over to the bed. "Sorry for calling you," he said. He avoided the sergeant's eye.

"No, Dylan. You did the right thing in that situation." The sergeant narrowed down and sat in his seat. "I'm signing you, Helena, and May – my daughters – out of the hospital. Like I said before, you know May as Teskai. We're going to go to a safe house until everything is cleared up like this."

Eagle figured that the man didn't want to put his daughters in harm's way, and he was glad they were getting out. There were clearly people who would do anything to get what he want. The man had been stupid enough to torture him in a police officer's uniform in the hospital, for God's sake. He sighed, wondering the person he was role playing would actually say. "What happened to the off-off-policeman?" he questioned.

"He's being arrested as we speak." The sergeant placed his hat down on the chair. "You're coming with me to the safe house, Dylan. I want to say, though, those were some impressive moves. Where did you learn them?"

_Crap. Obviously he saw the security tape. What should he say? Would he believe Eagle if the man said Breacon Beacons? _

"Jason said 'm not allowed telling you that," he said, slipping back fully into his role. He had decided that Dylan, having been traumatized by Jason (AKA Snake) for a year, would allow Jason to control him even when he wasn't there.

One of the things he'd been thinking about – especially after this incident – was that Dylan would be terrified that the sergeant would want to "give him up". If the sergeant gave him up, his logical option (at least in his character's mind), would be to go back to Jason. That meant that Dylan would try to reassure the sergeant that "Jason" wasn't a bad character and he'd make sure that he didn't say anything that pissed off Jason. Eagle kept a schooled outward expression but had to smile inwardly. He missed Snake and Wolf.

"Dylan," the sergeant said as he rubbed his eyes and leaned forward, "You don't have to worry about Jason. He and Jacob have both been arrested, okay? I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they don't hurt you again. You don't have to listen to what Jason says about what you can and can't tell me."

"But I do!" Eagle growled as he stood up, backing away from the sergeant. "I dropped a cup once. You know what Jason did? He threw me down the stairs. Then he said I couldn't speak!"

"But you're speaking to me now," the sergeant said reasonably. He leaned back in his chair, and Eagle sensed that he was trying to figure out "Dylan's" sudden demeanor change. "Okay, Dylan. Don't worry about it, alright? We're going to leave in about twenty minutes. Is there anything you'd like to take?"

Eagle drew back and leaned against the wall. "Jason would be mad if I went with you," he said. The sergeant had suddenly changed his mind and decided that Eagle should come with him to a safe house. If Eagle got freaked out about that, there was no doubt that Dylan would, too.

The sergeant closed his eyes and lowered himself towards the floor. "I'm your guardian now, though, not Jason, okay? You don't need to worry about Jason."

"But I do!" Eagle shot up, suddenly extremely frustrated with the situation. He was pissed off at MI6, Snake, and Wolf. He was tired of acting developmentally delayed. "You don't understand," he said, glaring at the sergeant. "I g-got 'way once before. Then Jason asked people and he _found_ me."

He then sunk to the floor, acting like he was totally drained of all of his energy when another nurse approached. "Here are your discharge papers, sir. Just follow through with the aftercare on the form. By the way, Nurse Jenkins has been apprehended."

"Thanks. I'll be leaving shortly," the sergeant responded.

The sergeant turned back to Eagle. "Dylan, I can't promise that Jason won't find you again. I can promise to keep you safe for as long as I possibly can. Do you think that since Jason's in jail right now, you can go with me for a little while?"

"I guess," Eagle muttered, making sure to mask his expression as he pushed himself up.

The sergeant had one thought as he made his way out the door: _Dylan__'__s__going__to__need__some__serious__counseling._

* * *

><p>Alex Rider sighed as he saw the sergeant leave with Eagle. He knew that the man had pulled some strings to get his daughters and Eagle out of the hospital tonight. Personally, he thought it was wise. He wanted to get out of the hospital, too, but for different reasons.<p>

He sighed, temporarily flashing back to his life with Jack. He missed her and thought about her daily. Alex felt incredibly guilty about her death, even though technically someone else had pulled the trigger.

_Flashback _

"_I can't keep him anymore, Jack! You don't understand. He's not any use as a slave to me anymore. He won't run off, he won't listen…"_

"_But he's not a slave!" Jack said as she tugged at her husband's shirt. "Why do you say these things? He's your son!"_

"_Oh, that's a good one," Michael laughed as he pushed back at Jack. "I suppose you think I'm your husband, too, not just your pimp."_

_A tear dripped out of Jack's eye. "You need help, Michael; more help than I can give you."_

"_I do not need any fucking help!" With that, Michael erupted and backhanded her viciously, and she stumbled backwards. "We're selling him and the other brat. We can get half a million dollars and start over in another country, since you've fucked up enough here."_

"_Go to hell," Jack responded. She hadn't even glanced at Alex as she stormed to her room and slammed her door._

End flashback

He shook himself out of his flashback. In as much as Alex had loved Jack, he couldn't dwell on the past now. He had to get Fox out of here. Alex waited until the other nurse had resumed talking on the phone before he slipped off his shoes. Moving quietly on socked feet, he made his way towards Fox's room.

He slipped quietly in, opening the door and closing it. Much to his surprise, Fox was up, getting dressed. "Where's Eagle?" he hissed, keeping his voice low. "I thought I saw him leave."

"You did," Alex said as he checked his watch. It was 3:01 A.M. No wonder why he felt so exhausted. "What are you doing up?"

"Nurse Jenkins forgot to drug me to sleep again," Fox said. Alex rolled his eyes. The way Fox said it, it made it sound like an everyday, okay occurrence. "Dude, get a pair of shoes on. It's going to be cold out there."

Alex shook his head. "It's better that I don't have one," he hissed back. "Noise and all that, remember?"

Fox shrugged. "Good idea." With that, the former SAS and MI6 man slipped off his shoes. "Let's go," he said.

The two slipped out around the police officers, who were all busy talking about what happened. Although Alex only overheard two snippets of conversation, he'd heard enough to know that they were talking about whether or not they thought that the "mentally retarded man" had actually done what the sergeant said.

"Outdoors," Alex whispered as he made his way through to the pavement. He shrugged on his jacket.

"Yeah," Fox said. He glanced at Alex. "Where are we going?"

"I got ahold of the sergeant," Alex said.

Fox looked at him blankly.

"You should remember him – you served with him for a long time. Hell ring a bell?"

"Oh!" Fox said, smacking himself in the head. "How'd you contact him, he give you his personal cell phone or something?"

"Eagle did," Alex said with a shake of his head as he pulled down his shirt sweater.

"That dude has amazing memory," Fox said as the two left the building. He glanced at Alex. "Well, what now?"

"Um," Alex said, looking at Snake, who was handcuffed, wearing a prison jumper and being escorted by a police officer, "We act like Elvis."

"I don't even know what Elvis sings. How are we supposed to act like him?" Fox retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"We leave the building, you dolt!" With that, Alex grabbed Fox by his arms and dragged him away.

* * *

><p>Challenge:<p>

Why is Snake at the hospital? Did his plan fail, or has it not been acted on yet?

What will happen to Eagle at the safe house?

If Snake's plan from the prior chapter works, and he does escape, will he be forced to go after Eagle because of Tahoma's men?

Where is Wolf?


	28. Secrets Revealed

_A/N: Chapter one and chapter two have been revised a little bit. Nothing significant has been changed that I know of, but if you'd like to reread them, please feel free._

* * *

><p><em>He felt the buckle slam down on his back once more and he couldn't help but escape the groan from his lips. Eagle was seriously going to throttle Snake as soon as he could. <em>

"_You'll thank me for this later, when it keeps you out of trouble."_

_He felt the heavy blow again. A smack right on the side of his stomach. He felt himself being shoved against the wall. "Tell me, are you going to keep any more damn posters on your wall?" Tahoma growled, his merciless face looming over Eagle._

"_N-N-No s-s-ir." Eagle drew himself into a ball, trying to make himself as small as possible. He winced as Tahoma slapped him with the belt once more and then walked away…_

-end flashback-

"Dylan!" Someone was shaking him, now. "Dylan, wake up. It's just a bad dream."

Eagle flew awake and blinked twice, realizing it was Teskai – no, May - who was standing beside him. "Sorry," he said, as he moved out of his bed. "I didn't realize I fell as-sleep. Is your dad mad?" He asked, hearing the cursing in the other room.

May stared at him for a second, before finally realizing exactly what it was her father had been saying. "No, no! He's just having trouble with the printer. But he's always mad with the printer. I just wanted to know if you wanted some lunch."

"Sure. I can make it," Eagle volunteered.

May shook her head. Her father was trying to not let Dylan help with chores very much – not because he couldn't do them, but because he wanted Dylan to realize he wasn't a slave to anyone, anymore. "No, you don't have to do that. I think Helena's trying to burn the food right now. She might be succeeding, but it's always good to let her feel like she actually knows what she's doing."

Eagle stared at her for a minute before formulating his response. May was surprised at his sudden change in demeanor; he'd seemed confident at Jason's house, even though Jason had been beating the shit out of him. She just kept silent until he responded. "Will your dad get mad if she burns it?" he finally asked.

May shook her head. "I'm kidding. She's a good cook. She just faked it for Tahoma. Burned his food every time. I still have no idea how she burned soup, but she managed it. And no, Dylan. The only time I've ever seen him raise a hand outside of work was to beat the tar out of the Printer God."

Eagle nodded and breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Okay," he said finally, moving to follow her from the kitchen.

"Hey," Eagle said, greeting Helena. He'd only seen her about three times since her escape and ultimate success. He was very grateful that she had been able to get away and that the sergeant had successfully orchestrated an escape plan. It had made the K-Unit's job much easier.

Now they just had to figure out how to get the hell out of here.

"'Morning," she said with a grin. "Don't worry. I promise not to burn it," she added. "And yes, May, I know it's not morning!" She added, knowing her sister was about to interject that it was actually six o'clock in the evening.

The sergeant walks into the kitchen. "Dinner looks great, Helena," he said.

"Just be glad you're not Tahoma," May smirked, "She burned his food every time. Hey, Sis, how did you burn soup? I don't think Dylan believes that you did it."

Eagle allowed himself a smirk. "No, I-I do. Jason got mad once when he came home, said that he hadn't eaten because some girl burned it, and he made me make his food."

"You can cook?" May asked, taking the plates out and setting a stack down on the table.

"Yeah," Eagle said with a nod.

"I'm glad to see you're willing to stay with us awhile, Dylan," the sergeant said. He was making it a point to call Dylan by his first name. He still remembered the first time he'd said Dylan's real name. Dylan had recoiled as if he'd been slapped.

There was a sudden knock on the door and the sergeant moved. "I'll get it," he said. Eagle winced, and the sergeant could see him tensing. "It's okay, Dylan. Why don't you help May count the forks?"

Eagle just nodded and glanced at the sergeant, then back at May. May watched him tense, silently counting out the forks and setting them on the table. Helena had noticed the sudden change, too, but didn't say anything as she dished out the well-prepared spaghetti.

The door flew open as the sergeant went to open it. The men slowly started to make their way outside. Even with the mask, Eagle knew the body who was in the lead.

It was Snake.

"Jason" was back, and he was playing for keeps…

"May, get in your room! Helena, go with her!" Eagle hissed, moving back towards the kitchen. He knew he had to drop the act now. He didn't care if his cover was blown. "Go!" He added. Helena forced her sister to follow her into the bedroom. Eagle knew there was a walk-in closet in there and hoped that was where they could hide.

"Where is Eagle?" Snake said. There was only one other man with him, but Eagle sensed it wasn't Wolf. There was just something in the man's demeanor that made that clear.

"I don't know who Eagle is. Maybe if you tried calling him by his name…"

The sergeant was slapped. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. You fucking adopted him. I did too. I gave him a home, but I got punished for it. Why should you get all the honors? Where is Dylan, then?" he purposely sneered the name.

"I wouldn't tell you even if I did know." Eagle chose that moment to dial 9-1-1 from the house phone. He whispered to the telephone operator that there was a man under fire and then left the phone off the hook.

He slithered away, moving closer to the scene. He would not allow the sergeant to take the heat to protect him, especially when he wasn't in any real danger from Snake.

Another man appeared. "I found this girl," they said, yanking Helena by her hair. "What should we do with her?"

* * *

><p>Snake watched the third man hold the teen girl by her hair. He didn't like this; he didn't like this at all. It had supposed to been just to go get Eagle.<p>

He knew that the sergeant had two daughters, and that they had been staying there, but he hadn't realized that they would actually be in the house at the time of the attack. He should have realized that. Of course the sergeant would be there, along with his two daughters.

He was going to throttle the man who'd help him break away from prison. Why had he suggested this?

"Hey, Tahoma, don't kill her yet," Snake growled. "We need some collateral. And Dylan, I see you. Get back here!" Snake pulled out his second gun; the one which he'd loaded with a BB bullet, and fired one directly at Eagle.

Eagle gasped, grabbing his leg. The bullet Snake had loaded shouldn't have hurt too much, but was designed to sting enough to take his comrade down. "Handcuff him," he said, tossing his pair of handcuffs to the sergeant, who was just in his jeans and T-shirt.

"No," the sergeant said. Snake winced. He did not want the sergeant to play hero to protect Eagle. Sure, Snake wouldn't shoot, but the other man might.

"Fine," Snake snapped. He moved to Eagle and snapped the cuffs on his wrist, making sure they weren't too tight. "Let's go." He turned to Ty, his stand-in partner. "Stand down, dude. I don't feel like taking her across the country."

The sergeant started reaching for his ankle holster, and Snake pretend not to notice. He grabbed Eagle, dragging him up. "Let her go, Ty. I'm not taking another hostage. Dylan will slow us down enough."

"Oh, yeah? How come you get to have a slave and I don't?" the man barked angrily.

The second man turned. "Yeah, Jason. We just want to have our fun, that's all. We don't swing the same way you do and we aren't interested in Pretty Boy over there."

Snake thought he might be sick at what the man was implying. Suddenly, the man pushed the girl violently forward. "You bitch," he growled, kicking her in the side. It was then when May tackled him from behind, and everything went to hell.

The sergeant raised his gun and fired at the man who had raised his gun again towards Dylan. The man toppled down, clutching at his stomach. May pulled herself off the man and shoved a phone at her sister. "Go call 9-1-1!" she screamed.

Eagle was about to move to make up when he was shot at from the side again, only this time with a real bullet. Eagle cried out in pain as he grabbed at his leg and fell to the floor, jarring his already injured arm. Two bullets from the sergeant's gun landed in the man's arm, causing him to drop the weapon.

Damn – this was all going to go to hell.

Snake grabbed May, who was right there. He only knew her name because he had overheard Eagle accidentally mention it once. "Drop your weapon," he said, panting as he held his gun up to May's neck. "Drop your weapon, or I swear to God I'll blow her away."

"Okay," the sergeant responded. He carefully laid his weapons down. He was unarmed and he knew it.

"Eagle, get up off the damn floor and come with me before I shoot your girlfriend," Snake ordered. He wasn't going to leave Eagle here with a pissed-off sergeant.

Slowly, Eagle dragged himself up and made his way towards Snake.

"Leave May alone," the sergeant ordered. Snake tensed, praying he wouldn't get too involved. If he could shake off everyone, he could use Eagle and May as hostages to get to another town where he could contact MI6. "Leave Dylan alone, too. I'll go with you."

"Don't worry," Snake said. "I have no interest in your daughter. She'll be returned. I promise," he added.

Unless something else went wrong, his brain added helpfully. He winced as he heard the sirens.

Eagle must have heard them too, because he pulled himself up, shot a pleading look at the sergeant, and followed Snake out the door.

"Daddy!" Snake heard Helena call as she was in the kitchen. "Help!"

* * *

><p>Wolf groaned as he tried to brush off whatever it was that was on him. "SAS!" he barked, pulling himself roughly up. "Hey! Mike! Could use your help explaining over here!"<p>

Another man came in. "What's the problem? Where is Jason – and everyone else?"

The sergeant stormed into the room and froze when he saw Wolf. "Leave my daughter alone," he snarled, and Wolf was sure he was ready to punch him.

"Hey, James, it's okay – he's one of us," the first police officer said. "He came to help out when we heard the distress call."

The girl glared at Wolf. "Weren't you the one who owned that slave?"

"It's a long story, but suffice it to say he's on our side. What happened?"

"We cleared the house. No reports of Jason Tanner – or Snake, as you call him – and Eagle."

"Wait, what?" The sergeant asked, surprised. "You mean Dylan?"

Wolf buried his face in his hands. "I think we'd better all go sit down… Somewhere where it isn't bugged… and where there aren't dead bodies on the floor."

* * *

><p>Alex restlessly made his way through the area. He was glad he at least had socks to protect his feet; they were starting to get cold. At least it was warm enough that there wasn't ice on the ground. He would have had no choice but to put on socks then. Alex growled as he maneuvered his way towards the rock and pulled himself up.<p>

Fox pulled himself up with Alex, sitting on the next ledge. They were about twenty miles out of town. "Okay, so, you want to explain to me what we're doing here?" he asked. "I know you said something about the sergeant, but you didn't exactly give me a lot of detail other than that."

"That's because I didn't want to." Alex thought for a minute, pausing as he attempted to rationalize his thoughts. "Okay. You know how we were abducted, right?" He asked. He'd searched the immediate area for bugs and found none. There was nobody around.

"No, I forgot that part," Fox drawled sarcastically. "I must've forgotten it when I was knocked unconscious, or something."

"Fox!" Alex said, smacking the SAS and MI6 man on the leg. Fox grinned at him, and Alex realized he was joking.

"Hey, relax, Alex. 'Course I remembered that part. I know we haven't gotten much time to chat recently, but can you tell me why you're suddenly smacking me in the leg?"

Alex took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay. So, I don't know where to start…"

"How about we start from the beginning. The beginning can be when I was abducted from Wolf's house, too, since we're actually clear of all ears and eyes – at least I hope we are."

"_Okay…"_

_Flashback_

_Alex let out a shuddering sob as Fox was escorted away in the vehicle. He felt sick to his stomach. He had been supposed to go with Jack! Not Fox! Jack had come back for him, and Fox had ended up getting in the way._

_He didn't want to stay here with Wolf. He wanted to be with Jack. It wasn't her fault her husband had decided that he was her slave and that she was his pimp. _

_Alex watched Wolf approach him, certain he was about to get slaughtered. He couldn't believe that he'd been so stupid. So dumb. So careless. So… He couldn't believe that Fox had gotten kidnapped to protect him._

"What happened after that?"

"I don't know." Alex really didn't, he'd lived in a blur. "I had this sudden thought of Wolf's brother, Joe. You know he's the one who died, right? I just had this sudden horror thought about 'what if Wolf killed Joe'?"

Fox stared at Alex.

"Look, I realize it's totally irrational now… maybe… is it irrational?" Alex glanced at Fox hopefully.

"Joe was his half-brother," Fox said as he leaned back on the cement barrier. "You don't know that much about Wolf's history, do you?" He had gotten his bachelor's in social work from UNI. He'd known just enough about Alex's home life that it was bad, and that there had been some trauma involved. To go straight from that, stay two days at Wolf's home and have him abducted…

"Nothing." Alex shook his head and looked at Fox. "Oh, and did I tell you, the sergeant said to meet him here?"

"Meet him here?" Fox asked, aware this was totally changing the subject.

"Yeah. He said he'd be here within thirty-six hours. We left the hospital at the right time, so he should be here anytime."

"Here," Fox said, pulling off his jacket and giving it to Alex. "You look cold."

"Thanks," Alex said gratefully. He wasn't about to refuse a free jacket. Especially not Fox's. It was cool. "Hey, Fox… about Wolf's brother?"

Fox exhaled forcefully, trying to figure out how much he should tell Alex and how much Wolf would kill him for telling. "Alex, I wanted to take your custody when I found out what was happening in your house. They wouldn't let me because I had known you previously, and because I was a social worker. Before you say it's stupid, I know and I agree. Wolf already had approval for custody because he'd gotten it right before he left for the SAS."

Alex waited.

"He had hoped that he would be able to get custody of Joe when he was a little older and was able to prove that he was making enough income to support them both. You see, Alex… Wolf's father wasn't his biological father. Wolf was adopted at a young age by someone who just wanted a baby and wasn't ready to care for him. Let's just say that Wolf suffered a lot through his childhood, and I'm sure you can guess what I mean by that. Wolf had just finished UNI and was debating on whether or not to sign up for SAS or stay at home and take care of his brother."

"How old was his brother?"

"He was fourteen-your age. Anyway, Wolf's father decided to make that decision for him, although he didn't really know it. One night he came home drunk. Wolf was still at home that night, trying to help his mom unpack, when his dad came in staggering. He wanted to know why Wolf was there; Wolf said he was just helping. I don't know exactly what happened, but he tried to beat Joe, Wolf's brother. Wolf got in his way and his father didn't like that. He fired the gun, and it went off – it didn't have the safety on. Joe was killed instantly."

Alex swallowed hard. Wow. Wolf's home history made his look like a cakewalk. "He decided to join SAS?"

"That was what made his decision for him. I think part of it was that his mother blamed him for Joe's death, and part of it was that he wanted to get away from the memories. I think that was partly why he was so grouchy at you, too. He didn't say it until after he left, but you reminded him a lot of his brother."

Alex nodded.

"So, how did you know how to get here?" Fox asked, quite curious and feeling a pressing need to know the information.

"I used to live here," Alex said. He swallowed hard. "Remember how my father and Jack kept not wanting me to talk when you were around?"

Fox nodded.

"Well," Alex said helplessly, "It was because of this. My so-called step father's big secret? He was part of a drug gang. I now realize that it was _Tahoma__'__s_ drug gang he was part of."

* * *

><p>Firstly, a huge thanks to Nightmareworld for her help and guest star role as May. She also gave me great advice on this chapter. I hope you liked the length. I was going for 1k words for each of the K-Unit, but that didn't happen. I'm going to attempt to do 1,000 words for each member, Alex included, in the upcoming chapters. Alex will automatically have 1k words in the next chapter.<p>

Secondly, your challenges:

So, Alex's stepfather's big secret: How involved was Alex's father in Tahoma's gang?

What will happen to Eagle and May? Will they be okay because they're with Snake, or will they be at risk because they're with other people? Will Snake be forced to hurt Eagle?

Will Wolf be believed by the sergeant? How much will he reveal about their cover story?

Who should have 1,000 words in the next chapter besides Alex?

Thanks to all for their reviews!


	29. Is Your Husband Good?

_A/N: One quick disclaimer here. Remember yet that May hasn't figured out Eagle's undercover story, and so she won't know that Snake is good and that Eagle's name isn't really Dylan. Cool? _

* * *

><p>Snake took a deep, steadying breath as he looked at Eagle. The man lay on the floor of the white, rusty van. His leg was bleeding from his open bullet wound. He quickly glanced at May, who, much to his relief, didn't look traumatized. He swallowed, wondering how he was going to get out of this mess.<p>

_Flashback_

_"I need your help," Tahoma said. Snake did a double-take, looking at the man. He hadn't protested being brought to the hospital, thinking that he was fine but could use the chance to get a phone call into MI6 and let them bail Wolf and Snake out of this mess. The last person he had expected to see was Tahoma._

_In the morgue._

_Talk about creepy of creepy conversations: talking with a man who was believed to be dead in a morgue. That had to be the irony of irony. "I'm open," Snake said, but already he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He flicked a piece of lint off of his blue T-shirt. It felt nice to be in jeans._

_"I'm trying to round up slaves who can be used as witnesses and control them so that there is less damage done to our ring. I was brought here because of news that Eagle and Teskai would be here, but I can find neither."_

_"Why do you want to find Teskai and Eagle?" Snake was more worried for May than he was for Eagle, admittedly. He knew that Eagle could handle himself in a tense situation. He didn't know Tahoma's plan for May and didn't know how she would be able to handle the situation. _

_ "Well, I'm sure that you'll want to get your slave back, and Teskai seemed to get along well with him last time. Besides, they're both witnesses, and both know too much information." _

_Snake considered his position carefully. At least if he was there in the time and place when it went down he could protect them as much as he could. If he said no, Tahoma could easily shoot him and find someone else. _

_"I'm in," he said._

_"Good," Tahoma smiled. _

_"Just one question," Snake said. "I thought you were dead." _

_"I thought I was, too! But that's for another time – I will explain later. Right now we have to take action…"_

_End flashback_

Snake pushed forward through to May and handed her a pile of damp rags. "Here," he said, handing them to her. The medical care he could give Eagle was hardly the best but at least it was something. Thank God the bullet only gazed him – less chance of an infection. He mildly wondered what type of care he could give to Eagle. "There's a first aid kit, here. Just keep replacing those rags when they get soaked, the bleeding should stop pretty soon, alright?"

* * *

><p>May glared at Jason. He'd been the one to shoot Eagle, him and damn Tahoma, and now he was giving her advice on first aid?<p>

Was he insane?

No, probably not insane, she corrected herself. She remembered that Eagle – no, Dylan - had said once that Jason had done drugs. Maybe he wasn't insane. Maybe he was high.

_Actually, Jason's drug use could account for why he was more violent towards Eagle than his partner, _May thought as she accepted the rags without statement. _That would make total and complete sense._

"Why do you want me to take care of him if you just shot him?"

"I don't advocate violence." With that, Jason pushed himself off the floor and pressed into the area where Tahoma was sitting. They were driving an RV vehicle. May swallowed.

_Yeah, you don't advocate violence, that's why you shot him yourself_, May thought with a shake of her head. She really didn't understand why Eagle could trust Jason, who'd she had _seen_ physically hurt Eagle, when he couldn't bring himself to say more than two full sentences in front of her father.

She was sure Helena would know an explanation. She really didn't care about the explanation. Right now, she just wanted to get out of here. "Eagle, get up!" she hissed, shaking him when she saw the door to the RV driving station close.

"What?" he said sleepily, blinking open his eyes slowly. He pulled himself up as soon as he saw May's hand firmly pressed on his leg. "What happened?"

"Your loving caretaker shot you," May said, glancing at him. "Don't you remember _anything_?"

"I never said he was loving," Eagle defended himself. He moved his hands towards his wound. "I got it," he said. He pulled off the rag. "Almost stopped. Can I get a clean one?"

"You never said he was loving?" May couldn't help but feel frustrated. She wasn't mad at Eagle, so why was she frustrated with him. "I'm sorry, Dylan, but why do you seem so… I don't know, confident around Jason and so…"

"Different around your dad?" Eagle finished for her as he pulled himself closer to the first-aid kit.

"Well, yeah," May said. He'd gone and taken the words straight out of her mouth.

"Because I already know that Jason's going to beat the shit out of me no matter what I do, so I may as well get myself in trouble. I _think_ I've managed to avoid pissing off your father, so I may as well avoid myself anymore trouble," Eagle responded. He removed the wrap out of the first aid kit and carefully wrapped it around the clean cloth. "I don't think he'll hurt you, though."

"Is he one of those 'I don't hurt girls' types?"

"I guess you could call it that." The scratch on Eagle's leg was now fully treated. "Look, May, I'm sorry I don't trust your dad. It's not that I don't think it's a good guy, I just…" He sighed, and May could sense that he was trying how to better phrase it. "I'm just worried, I guess. You know what I mean? He's a good guy. I don't want to piss him off."

_How should she answer that_? "I understand," she said, guessing she could at least understand where Dylan was coming from now. After all, he'd been within this organization so much longer than she had; learning how to play games as her sister had with Tahoma was probably a way of life for him.

* * *

><p>Eagle watched May lean back against the wall, trying to figure out what to say. "Do you know anything about what's happening?"<p>

"Other than the fact that you like to sleep a lot, no," May responded. She shrugged. "Oh, yeah. And we're on an RV – you know, one of those mobile home things."

"Oh, joy," Eagle said. "I'd love to know where he got _that_." He pulled himself up, moving into another room. "Hey, this one has double beds. Wanna share?"

May shot him an "I can't believe you're really asking me this" expression. "You know, if anyone else but you had asked, my dad would shoot them."

Eagle ignored the last part of the statement. "Oh, and what makes me so special?"

"Well, legally, you're my adopted brother, now," May said with a grin.

"Oh, yeah," Eagle said. He swallowed hard, wondering how he was going to explain that he _wasn't_ mentally retarded to the sergeant. Or how he could get MI6 to explain that. He sank to the bed he'd claimed as his own. "I wonder what their plans for us are," he said.

It was then when Snake reappeared, making his way towards the bedroom. May swallowed visibly as she glanced at him.

"Judging from his reaction? Nothing good," she said.

* * *

><p>Alex had never been so grateful to see someone in his life. If it hadn't been so un-manly, he would have hugged him. "Sarge," he said, breathing a sigh of relief, realizing that he now had no idea what his name was.<p>

"Cub, Fox, to what do I owe this pleasure?" The sergeant eyed Fox. "Last I heard, you had served your time with MI6, correct?"

"Yeah," Fox said as he stretched, getting off the booth. "How did you…" he said, seeing the two pairs of boots that the man had set down next to him.

"They were in my car. My brother who moved to America has a kid who is a boyscout, and I guess I've gotten into the whole 'always be prepared' motto. Saw you lot without your shoes and knew something happened. Now, I have two questions: What the hell has happened, and where are Wolf, Snake, and Eagle?"

Fox and Cub glanced at each other. Alex's look clearly said, _you're going to explain first if it kills me. _

"It's a long story," Fox said wearily. He and Alex had been talking, trying to figure out their best move. Cub had said that he knew from talking with Eagle that one of the sergeants on the force had daughters who had been abducted by the ring. He'd also stated that they knew who he was and that they could probably trust him. "I think there's about one guy on the police station we can trust, and I'm thinking it'd be easier to explain it there."

With that, the trio got into the sergeant's van, with Alex's promise to explain more details on the way.

* * *

><p>Alex swallowed nervously as he stepped into the police room and avoided Wolf's eye. He knew Fox had said Wolf was legit, and he trusted Fox, but he couldn't help but worry. He tried to force it down.<p>

"Sergeant Boots!" Wolf said, relieved. He stood at attention instantly. "When did you get here? Did MI6 notify you of anything?"

"No," the sergeant said with a scowl. Alex grinned, clearly the sergeant wasn't happy about his lack of knowledge. "I don't like being not notified. I thought the K-Unit had taken a temporary leave."

"I don't like not knowing anything, either," the second sergeant said. "Sergeant Halifax, sir. You are…"

"Sergeant Boots," the man said with an extent of his hand. "I currently lead and supervise members of SAS while they are in training. I trained Wolf's unit while he was in training."

"Wait, Wolf's _unit_?" the second sergeant said with a questioning eyebrow raise. "Well, clearly you managed to surprise us all, Wolf."

"Okay, hang on," Fox said, breaking his way into the conversation as he made his way to sit down in one of the chairs next to the table. Slowly, the rest of the people in the room followed suit. Alex sat next to Fox. "So, Wolf… Al-I mean, Cub and I don't know much about this. All I know is what Cub told me, I guess Eagle's here, but I don't know who else."

"Wait a minute," the sergeant interrupted. "Eagle? You mean like Dylan?" he said. His eyes darkened. "Somebody want to explain?" Helena had remained silent, although she had an idea of what was going on.

Wolf glanced at the entire room. He was used to leading an entire team, but he didn't like everyone's focus being on him. Truthfully, that made him half _glad_ for Eagle's shit-crazy stunts.

"Maybe I should start from the beginning," he said.

"Inasmuch as I'd like to hear the full story," Helena said, finally interrupting for the first time, "We need to figure out what's going on with Eagle and May. Your husband, Jason. Was he on your side, too? Or were you just supposed to get close to him? Because he has my sister and my now adopted brother. And he's with Tahoma."

"Shit," was all Wolf could say.

Alex completely agreed. That was so not good.

* * *

><p>So, here's the next update! I tried to break up the word count between Snake, Eagle, and May, so that you could see all sides of the conversation. Thanks to <span>everyone<span> for their awesome reviews. Thanks to SamayouTamashi, who guest stared as Helena, and her sister, Nightmareworld, who guest started as May. Thanks to both of them for their endless encouragement, feedback, and ideas. Thanks to Rainstripe for demanding that I update tonight.

Challenge(s):

Where are Tahoma and Snake going?

How will May and Eagle react when they get to their destination? When will May figure out that "Jason" is good?

What's your favorite quote from this chapter? It's fine to just copy and paste a line or two :)

Every review will gain an extra 100 words of Alex next chapter and every review with more than two sentences will gain another 100 words of their favorite character - so, if you review once with please update, I'll add 100 words to Alex's count, and then if you write more than two sentences, I'll add another 100 words to your favorite character.

Deal?


	30. Lies, Still Lies

_A quick note here: Helena = Kitai; May = Teskai. Helena is older and May is younger. _

_## break ## _

May sighed as she laid back against the wall, glancing at Dylan, who was still asleep on his bed. She wished desperately that they were back at home again, that they weren't with Jason and Tahoma. Although May hadn't been excited when her father had shot Tahoma, she had felt a sense of relief, knowing that their nightmare had been finally over. She'd been so excited to learn that Dylan had been coming to live with them. She really thought he was cool, even if she didn't think he was mentally retarded. Things had seemed to be going to go more smoothly when she and her sister had been signed out of the hospital.

Now this happened. She and Dylan were back in the custody of Tahoma and Jason. She hoped that Tahoma didn't get the chance to rebuild again; she hated him and wanted him taken down more than anything. She also wanted to take Jason down, too, for his crimes against Dylan, although she didn't hate him as much as she did Tahoma.

She had a feeling that she would by the time all of this was over. May sighed, torn between being grateful that her sister, Helena, also known as Kitai, wasn't there, and wishing that she was there. It would be nice to have someone she knew to talk to. It wasn't that she didn't know Dylan, but he still knew her better as Teskai, and she wanted someone to know her as herself.

Exhaling forcefully, she pushed herself off the ground. She felt like a vampire, being awake while everyone else was sleeping. May knew that she would need sleep to deal with the situation, but was simply to tense to sleep.

She sighed, wishing for a watch. May just knew it was dark out. She sighed, so lost in her own world that she barely registered Dylan getting out bed. Apparently she wasn't the only one who was having trouble sleeping. He stretched and made his way to the bathroom, and then came back.

"You couldn't sleep either, huh?" she asked.

"No," he said with a shake of his head, running his hand through his dark hair. He sighed, making a move towards the door to check and see if anyone was outside of their room.

"What are you doing?"

"Relying on my instincts," he told her simply as he moved from the room. He opened the door. May was surprised that it was unlocked – until she saw who was meeting in the living room.

The woman got up and made her way over towards Eagle, crossing her arms over her chest. She was barely older than May and was probably younger than Eagle. "Back to bed," she said briskly. Then she called. "Daddy, your slave's causing trouble!"

"But I'm not -," Eagle started, only to be roughly shoved back by the teen. May stepped forward.

"Hey – leave him alone," she said, moving forward towards the girl.

## break ##

Eagle glanced at May wearily as she moved forward. He didn't want to shut up, and the little girl's shove hadn't even hurt. Actually, to be honest, he hadn't even registered it. He just didn't want to start trouble. "May…" he said, a low, warning tone coming.

"I'm not afraid to deck her." May stared at the woman, not flinching.

Tahoma was at the woman's side two seconds later. "**Amaya**, go to bed, please. I'll take care of this."

"Daddy, I haven't seen you in five months and _that__'__s_what you tell me?" she said with a glare. After a minute she snorted. "Fine. I see how it is," she said, moving towards another place in the RV and slamming the door.

"So which one of you woke up first?" Tahoma said, glaring at the two. Eagle could see May visibly swallow.

"I did. You want to do something about it?" he said, stepping out. Snake had seen the action by that time and had wondered over, mildly eating an apple. He paused, sending a mild glare Eagle's direction.

"Your slave is acting out again. He's going to taint Teskai if we aren't careful," Tahoma said.

Eagle would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't afraid of the beating that would result if Tahoma saw him. Some things just weren't worth it. He sighed, wondering what a good comeback would be. He wanted to draw their attention off of May and onto him.

"I'm not his slave," Eagle said with a shrug. He hoped looking carefree would piss off Tahoma.

"Oh, what are you, an MI6 operative?"

-transition –

May paused at that statement, and she could have sworn she saw Eagle wince. But that couldn't be right… could it?

"Oh, look at this, he thinks he's working for MI6!" Tahoma said with a snort. May could only watch as he grabbed Dylan by his arm and pulled him out of the room.

Dylan looked temporarily paralyzed, but it was only that, temporary. "Maybe I am. What then?" he asked.

Tahoma just rolled his eyes. "Jason, I'll let you take care of him," he said, shrugging his hand. "We'll be done traveling by the end of tonight. I'm just sorry that Jacob couldn't come with us."

"We can get him again when the heat clears," Jason said with a shrug. May winced.

"You two just _had_ to have the misfortune of attempting to run away," Tahoma said. "You will now be helping me with my next venture: my hotel. I've been running it for awhile but haven't had a chance to see it yet. So now I will. Jason," he said, "take care of your slave for me. We'll be there in about an hour."

With that, he disappeared, presumably following his daughter. May mildly wondered who was running the RV.

"You're still my slave, Eagle. Just because you had a brief run-in with freedom doesn't mean you're special." Jason paused for a minute, and May found herself wondering about the man for the first time. She watched as he rolled up his sleeve and scratched mildly at his elbow. There was a word tattooed there… wait….

_Snake_?

That was odd.

She didn't dwell on it, though, more concerned about the present.

"Come on. I obviously have to teach you some manners," Jason said, grabbing Dylan.

May swallowed hard, watching them walk off. There was something that wasn't quite right, and she was going to find out what it was.

## break ##

Alex Rider anxiously tapped his fingers on the table as Helena spoke. "You're married to Jason Tanner then? You said he was your husband," she said. Alex mildly grinned at that.

_The__sergeant__didn__'__t__even__know__that__Wolf__wasn__'__t__gay._Wow. That had to say something for how the K-Unit had played their roles. "I was undercover. My role was to get close to Tahoma, I used Jason as a way to do it."

That answer surprised Alex, and from the look on Fox's face, Fox too. Alex scanned the room for the first time before returning his gaze to Wolf. "So are you gay?"

Wolf blushed a furious red and Alex grinned. Sergeant Boots leaned forward, and Alex wondered what he had to be thinking. "I don't see how that information is important to the mission."

"Let's talk about Dylan, then," the second sergeant said. He stood up, making his way over to Wolf. Alex had the strong feeling that Wolf was saying less than should be said because they still didn't know where Eagle and Snake were.

Alex had a hunch that the sergeant could be trusted, if nothing else for the reason that his daughter was missing, too. Still, Alex wasn't stupid. The meeting was probably being recorded… "What about him?" Wolf asked evenly.

"I think," the sergeant said, "It would be to our mutual benefit if we had this meeting somewhere else. If you can release Wolf back into my custody, I can hold a meeting back at where I'm staying."

Kitai's father nodded. "I think that would be a good idea." The sergeant gave details on where to meet, and they broke off.

## transition ##

Alex got into the backseat of the sergeant's car. He'd never been so glad to get away from somewhere in his life. "What's your plan here, Wolf?" the sergeant asked. He'd already checked to make sure the car was clean.

"I think we can trust the other sergeant, sir. His daughters have been held hostage by the rink for six months and he seems to have a good track record of service."

"Then what's all the bullshit about Snake and Eagle?" Fox said, leaning forward. "When Tahoma beat me up I got taken to the hospital, I heard him talking to this Jason – at least I think I did. He sounded a lot like Snake."

Wolf ran his hands through his hair. "Jason Tanner _is_ Snake. Eagle is Dylan. Okay, what I say here has to stay in this car for now. I trust the sergeant but I'm pretty sure that Tahoma's got some men on his squad."

"I'd agree with that," Alex said, speaking up for the first time. When Wolf glanced over from the backseat, he quickly explained. "Eagle was in the hospital, too, after we were all 'rescued'. One of the officers came and attacked him. The nurse set him free because she thought Eagle was… mentally retarded, I think she said," Alex said, searching for the right word.

Wolf smacked himself on the head. "I can't believe that they bought that damn cover story. Eagle is _not_developmentally delayed," he said, heaving a sigh. "Even if he acts like it sometimes," he added under his breath.

"Wolf, back to topic?" the sergeant replied. He'd chosen a hotel on the outskirts of town and had registered under an assumed name. He had several SAS teams nearby, waiting for his word in case something went wrong.

"Right, back to topic, Sir. Alex, after you went after Fox and never came back, MI6 contacted us for a mission. They didn't really give us much choice, we were just going."

Alex smiled grimly. _Story__of__my__life_, he thought.

"They enlisted my help, Snake's help and Eagle's help in the mission. Crawly was the one to find us, actually. Bastard said he'd gotten a lead on Fox, and that we were helping whether we liked it or not. He said that Snake and I would be playing a gay couple and that Eagle would be our slave. He said that Eagle would have no choice in being our slave since he matched the slave's picture exactly. I don't understand that whole story fully, but we had no choice but to do that. We basically had to pretend to be fully married and treat him like shit."

"I bet Eagle liked that," the sergeant responded dryly.

"I'm sure Eagle loved it," Wolf said sarcastically. "I hated it, and I wasn't the slave. Anyway, we've been undercover for a few weeks now. I was meeting with Snake and Tahoma. Tahoma had his slave over – May's daughter, Teskai, actually. I think she managed to talk Eagle into escaping."

"But why would Eagle escape during a mission?" Fox interjected.

"Getting to that," Wolf replied patiently. "I think he felt bad for Teskai. Kid's like sixteen, and has been held hostage for months. Anyhoo, they managed to pull one over on us, and they escaped. At the same time they escaped, Teskai's sister, Kitai, escaped."

"Odd names," the sergeant mused.

"Those are their slave names," Wolf said. "We used Eagle's code name as his slave name; actually, to make it less likely we'd slip up. Teskai and Eagle were recaptured; Kitai was not. I think that Helena is the sergeant's daughter, she was the one at the meeting. She must have gotten help. Our mission was to raid the neighborhood, that's been done."

"So why keep quiet about Snake's identity?"

"Because he and Eagle were taken out last night. Didn't you hear the sergeant say Dylan's been kidnapped? Dylan's Eagle. I think it's essential that we pretend, for Eagle's safety and for Snake's safety, that we keep referring to Snake as Jason and to Eagle as Dylan. It'd be better if nobody knew but us."

The agreements within the car were unanimous.

## break ##

Okay, so I'm sorry it's short, but it's still 2,000 words. I was hoping for Helena to have a longer scene, but since I'm short on time, that will be next chapter, I promise. Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur, does this satisfy your need for more OCC interaction?

Challenge:

Will Snake and Tahoma reach their destination? If they do reach it, what will happen when they get there?

Now that Tahoma's daughter has appeared (guest star Rainstripe), how will she play into things?

Will the sergeant whose daughter is missing figure out that Wolf isn't telling him the whole truth?


	31. May May Meet SAS

Everything hurt. That was Eagle's first single thought as he walked down the stairs. His second thought was how Snake had _tried_ not to beat him. Tahoma had walked in when Snake was about to start "punishing" Eagle and had all but attempted to beat Eagle himself.

_"I've got it," Snake assured Tahoma as he looked at _him_ coming in the through the door. Eagle winced; he just knew this was going to get bad. _

_"I know," Tahoma said, offering a sick smile. Eagle swallowed visibly as he rocked a bit on his knees. He felt sick to his stomach. This was so not good. "What, you haven't started beating him yet?"_

_ "I don't like punishing people with an audience."_

_"What, we aren't referring to slaves as its anymore?" Tahoma asked, mildly amused. _

_"You guys sound like you're married," Eagle had interrupted. That was when all hell had broken loose. Snake hadn't looked too angry, but a dark look crossed Tahoma's face. _

_"I think," Tahoma said, "We need to remind you who is in charge here." _

_Eagle swallowed visibly as the man grabbed him by his arm and flung him against the floor._

_End flashback _

So far, Eagle and May had been at the hotel two days. Eagle hated to admit it, but he missed Wolf. At least as Jacob, he could help taper out some of Snake's wilder mood swings. Eagle swallowed as he saw Jason and Tahoma at the table.

The hotel they were running in was entirely run by slaves. With, of course, the exception of checking in the guests, which were done by Tahoma, his daughter, and now Jason. Tahoma had been running the hotel with the help of his second wife (Eagle shuddered at that term) for some time now. From what Eagle gathered, when he'd beat his hasty retreat, he had decided to go to the hotel as a safe back-up plan.

_Oh, joy._

The trip there had been mostly without problem. There had been nothing that had stood out. Eagle glanced at Snake, careful to keep his eyes on the floor. This hotel had come with a whole new and different set of rules that Eagle and May had to learn.

_Don't speak to any of the guests. _

_Don't address Jason, myself (Tahoma), my daughter or my wife by our names._

_Don't run away. I have ways to find you that will make you wish you were dead. _

Several other rules had followed, of course, and Eagle was trying to remember them all. If he hadn't worked with Snake for as long as he had, he would have said that the man had gone to the dark side. He sometimes wondered if Snake had actually gone.

"What do you want?" Snake asked, leaving the table.

Eagle gulped, trying to remind himself that Snake was still on the good side. It was their third day there. May and Eagle were both entitled to eat dinner and lunch downstairs, but breakfast wasn't served as a public meal, and for the first two days they had been banned from eating it. Eagle had come down before May had woken up in hopes of avoiding a confrontation between her and Tahoma's daughter by offering her some food.

"B-breakfast," Eagle stuttered, surprised by Snake's response.

"We don't feed slaves breakfast," Tahoma said as he got up. "For that question, and speaking without permission, you and May can stay in the rest of your room all day – without anything else to eat."

_Dammit! _It wouldn't have been so bad if just he had been punished, but with both him and May… Eagle winced. "But, I-I…"

"Eagle." Snake's look was pointed and clearly said, _shut up_. "Don't make things worse for yourself." He rolled his eyes at Tahoma.

Even though Eagle knew Snake was trying to play his undercover part, the fact that he chose to side with Tahoma cut deep. He sighed, bowed his head, and moved from his room.

## break ##

"I'll be back," Snake said, making to follow Eagle. The door slammed shut as the two moved past.

"Eagle, what the hell was that?" Snake demanded. He understood that his friend was hungry and had hoped to sneak him and May some more food at dinner tonight. So much for that plan.

He was surprised by the look on Eagle's face. "May's hungry, J-Jason. She's a sixteen year old kid. I was trying to get her something to eat."

"You shouldn't have bothered." Snake felt bad for being so cruel, but he also knew that whatever he said was recorded. The only thing that was not recorded were the slave's rooms. Even the guest's rooms were bugged. Tahoma was extremely paranoid.

He watched as Eagle bit his lip and moved towards the door.

"I didn't say you could go yet," Snake said. He had hoped to talk to Eagle for a few seconds before he'd go off. Even if was as Jason.

Eagle's shoulders tensed and he turned back to Snake. Snake sighed, knowing Eagle was probably thinking about the beating that Snake had given him last night. "Look, Eagle, about last night. I didn't want to do that, you know that, right? You know why it happened," he said, hoping Eagle could understand him through his doubletalk.

A glare from Eagle, but it was softer this time.

"Oh, and be careful," Snake added, trying to twist a sneer into his voice. "Tahoma will partly know if you escape because he's bugged all of the phones."

Eagle bit his lip once more and Snake exhaled. He hated seeing his friend so quiet, but didn't know what he could do about it without Tahoma noticing. "Anyway… I can trust you to get up to your room, right?"

The man who Snake considered one of his best friends walked to his room in silence.

## break ##

May rose from her bed as she watched Eagle sink to the floor. "What's wrong?" she had noticed something wrong with his demeanor as soon as he had entered the door.

"I hate Jason," Eagle said sulkily.

She turned to face him, now fully surprised. She wasn't surprised that he hated Jason. She did, too. After all, he was her obstacle between freedom and her reuniting with her father. Well, him and Tahoma, anyway. She was surprised that he seemed sulky.

"What really happened this morning?" May demanded. Dylan's demeanor had been fine until then, and now… this.

"Nothing." Dylan hugged his knees and buried his face in his arms.

May slid down next to him. "It's okay to be angry."

"Yeah, but I'm not angry," Dylan finally said, turning towards her. "I'm _pissed off_!"

May allowed herself a grin. "It's okay to be that, too. Hey, weird question for you."

"Go for it."

"Why did you freeze when Tahoma suggested you were an MI6 operative?"

Just like the first time, Eagle winced, but quickly covered it up with a smile. "No reason," he said, but his voice was tense and May could tell he was lying about something.

"Dude, we're in the same situation, in case you haven't noticed. Just tell me, okay?" she demanded.

"I'm not an MI6 operative," Dylan said. His stance was tense, his voice on edge and normal. May frowned. She had hit some sort of nerve when she had mentioned that, but… what?

Dylan had checked for… actually, what had he checked for last night? He had checked for some sort of listening device, May realized."Okay, so, SAS then?" she joked. She must have seen it wrong. Her father wouldn't have gotten custody of Dylan if he were a law enforcement officer, after all.

Dylan turned around and stared at her. "Shit," he muttered, going in the bathroom. May could see him splash his face with water and he came back out.

"Okay, I know you don't really want to tell me because of Tahoma and Jason," May said, "but just answer me this… Your name is something other than Dylan, right? What is 'Eagle?'"

"I can't tell you my real name," now-not-Dylan stated. He lowered his voice. "Eagle, uh, might conceivably be my code name. I, uh, my superiors, may be targeting Tahoma."

May's eyes widened.

_Holy shit. _

_## break ## _

Helena sat perched next to her father on a worn chair in the sergeant's motel. She was still worried about May and Dylan, of course, but she was feeling at least a little bit better knowing that there were men on the side that were not Tahoma's. it was two days after May had gone missing and they were still working on leads, details, and contacts information. She personally hated research. She'd rather do math, something she knew how to do, or go out running.

Oh, well. At least she wasn't living with Tahoma still. The only activity she'd been allowed to do then was burn soup.

"How much did you know about this?" her father asked the other sergeant.

"Nothing. K-Unit had been done for awhile when I got contacted. Wolf, did thieves of A contract you?"

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "When Fox and Cub were kidnapped, they wanted me to go infiltrate the group and go after them."

"What about Dylan?" Helena said. She stood up, stretching her legs as she let down her black shirt. "I just have this feeling you're not telling us the whole truth. I don't think the guy is mentally retarded." At her father's look, she hastily amended. "Or developmentally delayed," she said.

Her father smiled at the correct use of the term, and then turned back to Wolf. "Look, we're not saying we disbelieve you. I mean, your story is nothing short of unbelievable, but I believe you. I just think there's something more to Dylan's story then you're saying… and I want to know because I adopted him."

Wolf sighed, biting his lip. Helena sensed that he was trying to figure out how much he actually wanted to say. "Are you protecting him?" she asked suddenly.

"I'm worried about him too," Wolf admitted softly. He glanced at his own sergeant before turning back to his father. "Jason has just… been very aggressive towards him, lately, and it worries me."

Helena had the feeling that there was more to that story than he was letting on but didn't say anything. The topic remained awkward for a second before the youngest of the group spoke up.

## break ##

"I don't think we're considering all the angles here," Alex said. He was aware of Helena's eyes on him and it felt so damn awkward. In another world, she would be at school right now and so would he. He might be on the football team, she on the cheerleading squad. Her sister seemed bright, so she'd probably be tutoring someone.

"What angle don't you think we're considering, Cub?" Alex glanced up at his former sergeant, relieved that someone was there who was on his side. Or at least was semi on his side.

"There were quite a few men at the house, and they got there awful fast. How did they get in so fast? How did they get so many people?"

Fox spoke up. "What about the guy who owned us? Helena, who owned you? I think I might have seen you in the same house as me once."

"He called himself Tahoma," Alex said, interrupting Fox. He paused back at Helena, and flashed back to when he'd seen two sisters sneak out of the house. "Wait a minute. How did you get away from them?"'

He watched her closely, noting that she became uncomfortable. "My sister – you probably knew her as Teskai, but her name is May – she and I had been planning an escape for awhile now. We'd tried to escape before, but Tahoma kept getting us…"

"How many times did you try to escape?" her father suddenly interrupted.

"A lot. I think I lost count."

Her father smiled ruefully. "That's my girl."

Alex swallowed, feeling the lump in his throat rise up. It was a painful memory that he didn't have any family to return home too. He shoved it down. Having no family and going to a foster home would be better than living in the neighborhood run by Tahoma, anyway. He knew the sergeant would help him work it out later.

"Anyway, Teskai finally met your Eagle, our Dylan, and said that he might be able to help us escape. She felt bad for him because he'd been there… I think she said ten years, off and on in slavery? Anyway, she finally was at your house the one night, uh, Wolf, and broke away with Dylan. They came and got me. Dylan was helping us escape when we came upon one of Tahoma's people. We were out of the neighborhood, some ten miles away when May got shot. Dylan did some basic first aid. I can still remember it…"

## break ##

Helena could still picture the scene in her mind as if it were yesterday. It hadn't been that long ago, after all.

_Flashback_

_The rain was cold, freezing on Helena's back, even with her jacket. She knew her sister and Eagle were only a few footsteps behind her, and for that, she was grateful. They had been able to obtain over forty minutes of freedom now and it had been the best forty minutes in the world. _

_She paused, not hearing the footsteps. Helena turned back behind her, looking._

_ "Where's May?" she questioned. She could hardly see through the rain. Eagle had moved behind her. _

_"Over here!" he called. She moved quickly to find him. _

_"May!" she gasped, shocked. "What's wrong?" she questioned Dylan._

_"She was shot," Eagle said through gritted teeth. She could see him move his hands to where the bullet wound was on her sister's leg. Thank God it wasn't bad. _

_"What are we going to do now?" she asked as she slipped off her jacket and handed it to Eagle, who placed it on her sister's leg._

_"You should run. I'll stay and take care of your sister," Eagle said. He slid off his own jacket and gave it to her. "Hurry!" _

_With that, she quickly slipped away. She hated leaving her sister but knew it was their only chance at freedom…_

A sudden thought hit Helena. She knew why the men had been able to find the house so fast and had been able to overpower them. "I know what the leak is," she declared suddenly.

"What?" everyone's attention was on her, now, and she shifted uncomfortably.

"It's the sergeant of the police station downtown. Dad, I know you shot Tahoma, but I think we need to make sure he's really dead. I _know_ I heard Jason say his name when we raided our house."

"You think the sergeant of the jail had something to do with it?" Wolf said. He looked eager for a lead but distressed at the thought of it being a sergeant.

"Yeah. When I was escaping, I was almost caught a second time. The sergeant of the local police station was looking for me. He actually found me – he grabbed me by my wrist and said, 'Come on, sweetie, let's go.' He then explained that he worked for Tahoma, and tried to take him home – until I kicked him, uh, where it counts," Helena said, looking over at her father.

"I'm not sorry I taught both you and May martial arts," her father said. "Okay, Alex, Helena, why don't you two just stay in here and chat? The SAS guys and I can attempt to deal with some sort of a plan."

At first, the look that Helena and Alex shared was mutinous and clearly stated, _we're just as much an adult as you are_. Then Helena saw Alex smile and knew he had an evil streak of his own... and that maybe they could help the adults beat the bad guy.

* * *

><p>First, thanks to everyone for their awesome reviews. I'm not feeling well this week, so sorry to say that updates will be a tad delayed, but I couldn't wait to get this out. Since I know that Alex has been lacking in this book, each review will get an additional 200 words for Alex and an additional 100 words for your favorite OC if you put in for what OC you want. (OC: Can be May, Helena, or the sergeant; or one of the bad guys.)<p>

Challenge:

NOTE: I have done a challenge on each of the MC's and one for the OC's, so pick and choose if you'd like.

**Snake: **How long will Snake be forced to keep up his act around Tahoma? Will he be able to break away and make contact with others or will he resign himself to keeping up his own acting strategies? Has he gone darkside, as Eagle semi-fears he has?

**Wolf**: When will Wolf reveal the truth about Eagle and Snake?

**Alex**: When will he let on that his stepfather was killed by Tahoma? Does he already know that his father was stepfather by Tahoma, or does he not?

Eagle: Will he be able to protect May and survive Snake and Tahoma's wrath? Will he be able to escape or find some way to communicate with Snake?

Fox: When will Fox realize the extent of what MI6 put the K-Unit through?

OC's:

- Sergeant Boots: When will he realize that Wolf is pretending to be gay?

- May: What will she do with the information she has now, about Eagle?

- Helena: If Alex does indeed have a plan, will she help him with it?

- Girl's father: How badly will he treat Snake and Tahoma when they finally arrest them?

Thanks for all reviews! Remember, feel free to pick and choose the challenges.


	32. Burying a Body

Eagle paced the bedroom restlessly. Now that May knew he wasn't actually mentally retarded, he realized she found was watching him with a closer eye, maybe wondering what plan he had up his sleeve to get them out of there. He exhaled slowly, wondering when May would be back with lunch.

Lunch was a break from the melody of boredom.

After two rounds of pacing, Eagle sat back down on his bed. The rooms that the slaves stayed in had been originally guest bedrooms, moved to one part of the particular floor. Eagle knew of at least three other rooms occupied by slaves, making it nine total slaves that were there if you counted May and Eagle. Generally, people stayed in rooms that were assigned to them by gender – Tahoma didn't want anyone having babies – but Tahoma had put May and Eagle in a room because they'd come from his old neighborhood.

They had done absolutely no work yet. Eagle had the feeling that Tahoma was trying to isolate them while their pictures were still being broadcasted on the news. Then, once the news died down, Eagle had a feeling they'd be made to get to work. Eagle wished they could get to work now. They had books in their room, sure, but he was _bored._ "Any problems getting lunch?" he asked May as she came back in the room. Snake had snuck them both a peanut-butter sandwich for dinner last night, so at least they'd had something yesterday.

May rolled her eyes as she set the tray of food down on the desk. Eagle could see that her face had started to bruise. "What happened?" he asked, pointing to her eye. May took a bite of the muffin she held in her hand while raising her pack to her eye.

"Tahoma's daughter was downstairs," she said with a shrug. Eagle winced. He didn't like Tahoma's daughter, either. She had decided that she was Lord and King over all the female slaves. Eagle had gone down the hall once to get some ice and had been yelled at by her because he was in public. If not for his 'I don't hit women' policy and the fact he didn't want to get beaten by Tahoma, Eagle would have punched her right there. "She laughed at me when I asked her to move – and then she punched me."

"She's so sweet, isn't she?" Eagle mocked, rolling his eyes. May giggled at his antics, glad that someone else agreed the obviously-not-eighteen-year-old hotel worker wasn't a sweetheart. "Wonder why Tahoma even has her here?"

"Probably so he didn't have to look at her at home." May swallowed the last of her muffin and moved towards their restroom as the bedroom door opened.

As far as Eagle was concerned, there was no privacy. Anywhere. Their room could be accessed by keycard 24/7. Both Snake and Tahoma had accessed the room separate times last night doing a random "round check" to make sure that they were still there.

With that, Eagle groaned inwardly. Tahoma's daughter was standing there. Amaya was probably about 5'5 – two inches taller than May – and probably weighed about 120 pounds soaking wet. Eagle mildly wondered if it was healthy for someone to weigh that little. "Can we help you?" he asked, not amused to see her. She only seemed to stir up trouble. She'd taken a special dislike to May for some reason – something that worried Eagle only because Tahoma would not tolerate back-talk towards his family.

"I want to talk to May." Amaya tossed back her brunette hair and crossed her arms, leaning back against the door.

"For what reason?" Eagle answered back just as coldly.

"None of your business."

"It is my business when it's about my sister."

"You're not her sister. You're an adopted freak who nobody wanted," Amaya responded. She'd obviously heard the story about "Dylan's" history, then. Well, at least his cover wasn't totally blown…

"Leave Eagle alone." May set the ice down on the bed and made her way over to Amaya. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Tahoma appeared next to his daughter then. "Amaya, are these two giving you trouble?" he asked, sending a murderous glare towards both Eagle and May.

"Yes, Daddy. Eagle blocked me from talking to Teskai," Amaya said, completing her sentence with a perfectly shaped pout.

"Is that so?" Tahoma sent a murderous glare towards Eagle then. "Look, Amaya, I'll take care of it. Can you go take care of your homework?"

"Yes, Daddy," she said, skipping out.

"Seventeen years old and she still calls you 'daddy' – now there's a kid who's messed up," Eagle said. He was rewarded by being shoved back into the room by Tahoma. The door closed and May gulped, fully aware that she and Eagle were now in the same room as Tahoma – alone. Well she didn't like Jason, at least he was there to stop Tahoma's wilder mood swings.

"You and I have a little date tonight, Eagle. Your behavior is getting out of control." With that, Tahoma turned towards May. "I want you to listen to my daughter. She's above you, you know that. Tomorrow, she'll be training you and Eagle with cleaning the linens. The slave we used to have doing that died."

"Died?" Eagle said, letting out a hard swallow. What had happened?

Tahoma grabbed Eagle by his chin and forced him to look into his eyes. "Yes, he died. Tonight… your punishment is that you have to bury his body." Tahoma slammed the door to the room as he made his way out.

Eagle turned to May. Her face was etched with fear, and he was pretty sure that his echoed hers. He didn't know what had happened, but he did know that things had gone way too far. He'd been relying on Snake to get them out of there; it looked like that wasn't going to happen. "We have to get out of here," he said, surprised at how shaky his voice sounded.

May nodded. Her voice tightened with resolve. "Tonight," she said.

"Tonight," he agreed. He swallowed. "We'd better start making plans."

## break ##

Alex sighed as he watched the adults talk. He and Helena had been shifted off to the side. Wolf, much to his surprise, wasn't saying _anything_about the fact that Eagle and Snake were SAS. He knew that he had seen them. Fox was also keeping his mouth shut.

Alex wondered if that was the best plan or if that was the best plan was to come clean with the whole truth. He decided that he didn't know and that it would be best to leave it alone for now. He turned back towards Helena. "Any ideas to help them out?"

"Besides staying out of the way? No." She leaned back, adjusting her hair. She nervously bit her lip. "Wait a minute. I do have an idea – Dad!" she said, running back into the room. Alex followed her and yawned in exhaustion.

"Yeah?" he said, looking up from the table. Fox and Wolf were seated at one side of the table, with the SAS sergeant sitting next to them. Helena's father was sitting next to Fox.

"Do you know if Tahoma owned any hotels?" she asked.

Alex double-blinked and then smacked himself on the head. "Look up the Sugar Plumb hotel. It's about two hundred miles away from here. He mentioned it once – he said it was where he dropped off his drugs."

It looked like they had a lead.

## break ##

Challenge:

Will the lead pay off?

Will May and Eagle be able to escape before Eagle is forced to bury the body?


	33. Darkside Flipped

_Sorry for the delay. As some of you know, it is National Novel Writing Month and I am partaking in that competition. It is eating the majority of my "free" time. I hope to update this more steadily at the end of the month. _

* * *

><p>Eagle was frowning as he and May were lead outside. He had the feeling something bad was about to happen and he just didn't know what. He took a deep breath, hoping and praying that he could somehow just get free of this place. He needed to get May, and admittedly himself, out of here. Snake may not have flipped to the dark side yet, but there was little help that he could be in this situation, what with Tahoma breathing down his neck and demanding that Snake treat Eagle like he was less than human.<p>

"Tonight we have a celebration that we are still together!" Tahoma said happily as he clapped Snake on the back. Eagle noticed that Snake didn't look happy, and wondered what that was about. "We also celebrate that we have caught the thief trapped in our midst."

Eagle suddenly felt sick to his stomach. The thief trapped in their midst? What the heck was that about? He took a deep, deep breath, praying that he had not been caught.

"Eagle," Tahoma said, "Come forward." Great, now the bozo decides to get all serious on me, Eagle thought.

* * *

><p>May watched with concerned eyes as Eagle moved ever-closer to Tahoma. He looked nervous, and May didn't blame him. She wondered what on earth Tahoma meant by thief. Had Eagle stolen something? She couldn't picture him doing it unless it was vital or necessary to his mission, but she barely knew the man, and what she did know of the man, she knew as Dylan. She took a deep breath and glanced at him as he bowed his head, not hoping to provoke Tahoma.<p>

"So," Tahoma said, raising Eagle's chin and looking him directly in the eyes, "You are a member of MI6." There was a statement of finality in his voice; something that gave away to the fact that he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who Eagle really was. It made May want to start shaking, but she managed to pull herself together. What was going to happen?

"Clearly, to you I'm not," Eagle retorted. May tensed, sensing that something bad was going to happen, soon. Taking another deep breath, Eagle responded, "I'm just a slave." With that, he bowed his head.

"Really, really." Tahoma smiled. "Just a slave. Well... that's not what Jason over here says."

May's head shot up and turned to Jason. He had a firm smirk on his lips, and May just sensed trouble.

* * *

><p>Tahoma felt horribly betrayed. This... bastard spy went in and infiltrated his groups. How dare he do such a thing? He'd probably been personally responsible for the chaos that was caused when Helena, also known as Kitai, first escaped. It took everything in him not to backhand Eagle.<p>

Jason had come to Tahoma the other night, when Amaya and Tahoma were sitting on the couch, enjoying some father-daughter time. Jason had asked if Amaya could leave so he could speak with Tahoma in private.

_*Flashback*_

_"There's something you need to know," Jason began without so much as a hint of preamble. His face looked deadly serious. _

_"What's wrong?" Tahoma asked, knowing that he was about to learn something that he would not like. At all. _

_"Eagle and I are actually spies for MI6." _

_Tahoma's blood flared. MI6? MI6 had been interfering in their personal business? How dare they? Why didn't they leave him alone? And wait - did Jason just say that he was a spy as well? Taking a forced breath, Tahoma said, "Please explain to me why you are telling me this." _

_"I'm tired of being a spy for MI6," Jason said. "My real name isn't Jason, by the way. But that's another story. If MI6 was a legitimate operation they would have bailed Eagle and I out by now. I'm sick of working for them. I didn't even want to come in on this mission; I just knew I had no choice because my friend had been abducted by who MI6 believed was your people. We were all but blackmailed into doing this. They've blackmailed kids before." _

_Tahoma wasn't surprised at the last statement._

_"Anyway, I'm joining your side. For real this time. I just can't stand working for them another second." Jason - or, well, technically not Jason - let out a breath._

_"I can certainly handle that." A full smile formed on Tahoma's lips - and then he stopped. "But did you say that Eagle was a spy for MI6?"_

_"Yes. He was formerly an SAS member. That's where he got the code name." _

_"And you called him by his code name and acted like you were dehumanizing him," Tahoma muttered. He shook his head. "Ingenious. So why come to me now?" _

_"MI6 is getting near to this hideout," Jason said. "I don't want you to get busted." _

_Wonderful. Absolutely bloody wonderful. "That's fine. We have a back-up operation that we can go to. I think I will take you, my daughter Amaya, and Eagle and May. After all, if Eagle really is a spy for MI6, it would be a shame for him to be free, right?" _

-end flashback-

Tahoma smiled as he looked at Eagle, who he was fairly sure was certain for everything that had gone wrong in his life recently. It was now time for him to make a move. A rather big move.

* * *

><p>Snake looked on at Eagle, who had quickly managed to mask the look of hurt on his face. Snake had just decided that he didn't care. He liked Eagle, sure. But he couldn't bring himself to care about his country anymore. His country, after all, had left him in the lurch. He had finally contacted MI6 last night and their response had basically been that Snake should stay in the position that he was in and try and convince Tahoma to turn himself in.<p>

There would be no emergency bail-out for them.

That's what had done it for Snake. He'd tossed in the towel then. He'd nearly given his life for his country so many times before, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it now. He hated the mere thought of giving them the satisfaction of bringing Tahoma in.

"You and May are going to bury the body here," Tahoma said, gesturing to where someone lay, dead. Snake hadn't learned why he was dead, but he didn't care. He felt his heart becoming like a cold stone and welcomed it. Taking a breath, he exhaled forcefully and glanced at Eagle, who had hung his head in shame once more.

The K-Unit had been the best team he'd ever worked with, sure. But what did that matter if he would never get to see his team again? Snake personally opted for the chance of himself staying alive and not found out.

"Amaya will watch you while Jason and I gather some things. We leave tonight."

* * *

><p>Eagle groaned as he hit the shovel and moved a pile of dirt over on the side of the garden. His shoulders were soar. Amaya had made it so that Eagle couldn't attempt anything. May was sitting right behind her, and Eagle knew that she would be in the line of fire if he, as Tahoma put it, did anything stupid.<p>

It was just as well that Eagle was out here, digging the grave tonight. He felt incredibly hurt and betrayed. Snake, who he had perhaps known and trusted the best within K-Unit, had betrayed him. He'd given away the alias that Eagle was using. He'd let Tahoma know that he was bloody MI6, for crying out loud.

Why? Why didn't he just hang in there? They could have plotted an escape and gotten back with their friends! He needed desperately to talk to Snake, to forgive him... anything. He just didn't know that to do. Another shovel of dirt and Eagle figured that the grave was big enough for the dead body.

"Is that good, Oh Lord and Master?" he asked Amaya. Amaya just rolled her eyes.

"It's lucky Daddy doesn't let me punish you," she said with a woeful smile. Eagle could tell that she was basking in the moment and having Eagle, an MI6 operative, within her power. She moved closer to the grave. "Yeah, looks good. Whatever-your-name-is in the red, help him drag the body in."

"It's May," May snapped as she forced herself up to assist Eagle. He grabbed the body by its legs and May grabbed it by its hands. Together, they lowered the body into the coffin. Eagle swallowed hard, thinking that could have easily been him.

That could have so easily been him.

That didn't matter, though, because it wasn't him. Eagle glanced at May, who nodded. Whatever move Eagle made, she would make too. Suddenly, without warning, May grabbed at Amaya and shoved her into the dirt - right on top of the dead body.

"Go!" Eagle shouted, knowing the two of them would be dead if they stayed behind.

* * *

><p>Alex Rider paced nervously on the apartment carpet. He knew that something was going to go wrong. He just didn't know what. The feeling of doom had settled within him and was not allowing him to shake it off. He winced as he looked at Wolf, who came in the room. "What's wrong?" he asked.<p>

"MI6 made contact with Snake. Something's up with him, I can tell," Wolf said as he sank into the couch. "I just don't know what."

"What do you _think _is up with him?"

"I don't know. But if I find out he's gone darkside, I'm going to tear his lungs out."

"Why do you think he'd go darkside? I mean, how long has he worked with you guys?"

"For a long time. _MI6_ told me that they think he's gone darkside. Well, not in those exact words. But still." Wolf looked depressed and Alex didn't blame him. "We're gearing up. MI6 has a lead for where the two are."

* * *

><p><em>In my defense... Snake made me do it! Rainstripe, your scene as promised will be in the next chapter. <em>

Challenge:

Did Snake REALLY go darkside? Or does he have a reason for revealing himself to Tahoma?

How is Eagle feeling? What is Eagle going to do next?

Each review adds +100 words for Alex in next chapter.


	34. Flipped Darkside

_A/N: All should thank Nightmareworld and Rainstripe for their bribery/encouragement. Without them this chapter would not have been posted this quickly. Rainstripe, remember **our** bribe... mwahah._

* * *

><p>Eagle ran pounding against the gravel, his shoes skidding across the dirt and stones. He was grateful he had shoes. He was feeling incredibly hurt and betrayed. What was Snake <em>thinking<em>? He wanted to rip the man out, lung for lung, tooth for tooth. He wanted to slaughter him and…

"Why did Jason say you were an MI6 agent?" May asked when they were about two miles away from the compound.

"I can't tell you that right now." The look on Eagle's face looked pained, though, and May figured that she had guessed correctly. She swallowed hard as she ran, trying to figure out exactly what that meant.

* * *

><p>Snake was going out of his room to talk to Eagle. He had to explain to Eagle why he did what he did. It was actually all apart of MI6's stupid-ass larger picture… the picture that was not working well. One of MI6's agents had gone darkside. He just didn't know who. The problem was that MI6 knew which agent had gone darkside. Well, actually; Snake did know the person's description. He did know who they were.<p>

He also knew that they had been close to revealing who Snake and Eagle were. This was why Snake had told on them. He had asked Tahoma if he could punish Eagle himself to "prove his allegiance" to Tahoma. This would allow him to look more loyal to Tahoma and would prevent the other MI6 agent from selling them out.

Unfortunately, due to their circumstances, he had not been able to get the secret to Eagle. He had hoped that he would be able to during Eagle's punishment, but he hadn't had a chance to do that yet.

"You had better punish your slave really damn good," Tahoma muttered as he brushed the dirt off his sleeve.

_Oh, shit. _That didn't sound good. "What happened?" Snake asked, a feeling of dread coming through him. He should have known that it was a bad idea to do that without talking to Eagle. Eagle was probably feeling incredibly hurt and betrayed.

There would be no bailout from MI6 for the time being. Since they thought the MI6/Tahoma spy was looking like they were with the police, MI6 thought it would be safer for Eagle and Snake to remain in Tahoma's company, especially if Tahoma thought that Snake was on his good side. Snake had told them that yes, Snake would be safer, but Eagle would not. The person who Snake had spoken to on the phone didn't even want to be told Snake's location in the event that something happened to them.

"May pushed Amaya into the grave they were digging," Tahoma said. His eyes darkened. While Tahoma was scum - there was no despising that - he seemed to care about his family. At least, he put on the appearance that he did, and Snake treated the situation accordingly.

"She what?" Snake said, totally shocked. Somehow he knew this was going to be Eagle's fault, if nothing else from what Tahoma had said earlier, but she didn't know what was going on. "Explain that to me one more time, please."

Taking a deep breath, Tahoma sighed. "May pushed Amaya into the grave - on top of the body Eagle had just put in there. She's taking a cleansing shower right now. The two have taken off, on foot. I want to keep Eagle alive, but I want to keep him alive and make him suffer. I don't want there to be any chance that he thinks that running away is acceptable."

"Agreed," Snake said, feeling like scum for dealing with Tahoma. Why couldn't MI6 just bail them out?

"I will let you personally handle Eagle the way you see fit, but I want a piece of him, too. And Amaya has requested to punish May herself. I've granted her the privilege; I'd like to see where she goes with this."

I wouldn't, Snake thought with a sigh. Instead, he just nodded. "Okay," he said. "Okay."

* * *

><p>Alex Rider was nervously pacing... Again. That seemed to be all he did these days was nervously pace. He glanced at Helena, who was stretched out, on the floor. "You're not nervous?" he questioned, looking at her directly in the eye.<p>

"Of course I'm nervous," she retorted. She sat up straight and took her long, flowing hair and wrapped it into a pony tail. "I want to fry Tahoma as well. He may have your friend, but he has my sister."

"I know," Alex said. He sank down onto the floor where he could be closer to her. "I'm worried for them. I mean, Tahoma was already mad at Eagle before for escaping - how is he going to treat them now?"

Helena reached out and touched Alex's shoulder. "It does no good to dwell on the past," she reminded him.

Wolf came in the living room and knocked on the wall. "Hey," he said. Alex glanced his way, remembering all over again that the man was his guardian. Alex wished he had just accepted him as that - it would have made life so much easier for all of them.

"We don't have the lead on them we thought we did. MI6 has the lead, and they aren't sharing." Wolf sunk to the floor. "The sergeant and your father, Helena, are going down to MI6 headquarters to try and work something out."

Helena nodded. "And..."

"I'm watching the two of you in the meantime," Wolf replied.

"Wonderful." Alex straightened up. "Hey, uh, Wolf?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are... That thing where you're my guardian?" he questioned, hesitantly. He didn't want to know what was going to be said next, but he needed to. He needed to know if Wolf still wanted him as a kid.

"Yeah?" Wolf asked, the look on his face a little softer.

"Is that still in affect? Or... if not, who gets me?" Alex asked, shuddering at the thought that MI6 might get him.

"I'm still your guardian, Alex. Wouldn't trade you for the world. And… I'm sorry for all those things I said before."

"I am too," Alex said. "Now, to quote Dean Winchester, 'enough chick-flick moments." A smile broke out on his face when he remembered Jack quoting those famous American lines.

A puzzled look came across Wolf's face. "Dean Winchester? Chick-flick moments?"

Helena burst out laughing. "You don't know who _Dean Winchester_ is?"

"No… We don't get a lot of television time at SAS. And what time we have, Fox usually hogs it."

"Hey!" The other SAS man said, coming in the room and clapping Wolf on the back. "That's not entirely true. At least I don't like _desperate housewives." _

Alex wrinkled his nose. "Who likes _that_ in your unit?"

"Eagle," the two men groaned together.

"So, MI6 isn't being parting with the location." Alex sighed, then realizing that the words 'being parting' didn't really go together. "I think we have a work-around for this. Helena and I know _a lot _of information about the ring. Fox does too, I'm sure. What if we put all of our brains together and tried to come up with something?"

"Sounds good to me. Because I'm about ready to screw MI6," Wolf said .

"I'd love to see that," Alex said with a grin.

* * *

><p>Snake sighed as he and Tahoma pulled up to the area stop sign. He had a bad feeling he was about to meet MI6's mole. "Hey," he said, greeting the man.<p>

"I found them," he said, gesturing towards Eagle and May. May was hugging Eagle's side, burying her face in his shoulder. Eagle had a pained look on his face like he knew what was going to come next. "I'm Ash, by the way. I'm our intelligence gathering information in MI6."

_Ash? Isn't he supposed to be dead? _Snake thought, trying to remember certain information that MI6 had given him. "What do you want to do now?" he said, turning to Tahoma.

"You prove your worth. You punish them. And I want _both _of them to come back with bruises. I'll be looking for you within the next five hours. There's a security camera in the car I'm giving you – I want that punishment filmed, too."

##break ##

Challenges:

So – what information are the sergeants going to get from MI6?Do you like Snake better now? How will he punish Eagle and May? How does Eagle feel? How soon will he figure out the truth?


	35. Returned Bloody

A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him. - **Ezra Pound**

* * *

><p>Snake glanced nervously at May and Eagle. Eagle was hugging May tightly, more because of the cold outside than anything else. A light, damp rain was falling outside. First measures first – he had to get Eagle and May out of the cold.<p>

He had four hours to figure out a strategy. What could he do? He sighed, glancing at the nearby hotel. A smirk formed on his face. He knew that Tahoma owned many of the people in the hotel, and that this would work just perfectly with his plans.

Now he just had to figure out how to hurt May and Eagle badly without, well, hurting May and Eagle badly.

Wonderful.

He decided right then and there that he really hated his role. Why didn't he let Wolf play the main aggressor? If he had let Wolf play the main aggressor, Snake could look like a good guy instead of the bad guy, and… well, there was no time for that melodramatic-ness now.

"Eagle. I want you to help May up. Is she hurt anywhere?"

Eagle stared at him, and Snake could see the wheels practically turning in his head. He took a breath. "No. But you should let us go. Really, I can't believe you-"

"Shut up. I get to decide when you talk. There will be time for explanations later," Snake barked. "Eagle, are you hurt?"

"Why do you care?" The SAS man (because Snake could never think of him as MI6) demanded. "You're just going to hurt us again."

"Just answer the question."

"I thought you told me not to talk."

* * *

><p>Eagle could feel May's arms tense around him. He knew what he was doing – he was trying to antagonize Snake and get his attentions away from May. He knew Snake could get easily distracted. That was why he took adderall, after all, wasn't it? For his ADHD? There were many ways that he could antagonize Snake.<p>

He just had to pick the one that would work best in their situation without actually getting him killed, chopped up and left for dead.

And without getting May hurt.

That would be easy.

Well, he had to look at the logistics of time. Eagle knew that Snake only had four hours that he was allowed to torture them in.

"You don't want to hurt us," Eagle tried. "You remember how we worked as a team together." He really didn't think that Snake had flipped dark side. They had often joked about how the team would go dark side. If Snake had actually flipped to the dark side, he had promised that he would do it in a much greater number; a much bigger number that would cause more causalities or something.

There were many reasons why Snake would not flip dark side. The number one reason being…

_Flashback_

_"You know, in our job, there are a lot of people who flip dark side." Eagle grinned at Snake. _

_"Yeah, I know. We get to deal with bozos every day." Snake did not return Eagle's grin. He was instead looking at the dark floor._

_"No, Snake. I mean people who FLIP dark side."_

_"Eagle, you just said that." Snake ran his hands through his dark, black hair. He'd recently washed it and it was still wet. He winced, drying his palm on his jeans._

_"Dude, flip dark side. What would happen if one of the team members went dark side?"_

_"You mean like if one of us defected," Fox said, speaking up from the top bunk. He rolled over and landed with his feet on the floor._

_"Why would anyone defect?" Wolf asked, coming into the room._

_"Eagle was just providing commentary on how many people actually flip to the dark side," Snake said with a tired exhale. _

_"Well, I know that none of you will – or I'll rip you to shreds." _

_"Gee, thanks, Wolf."_

- End flashback –

So Eagle knew that there would be nothing that Snake would do to flip to the dark side. But the prospect made him nervous, nonetheless. He decided to treat the situation as if Snake had defected, and pray that he would not kill Eagle later.

"I actually do want to hurt you." Snake smiled, a sick grin filling every inch of his face.

"No, you don't." Eagle was trying to boil down Snake's four hours to the point where he and May wouldn't be hurt as much. He knew that Snake would have to make them return with bruises, but those bruises could be dramatically reduced.

Snake moved closer to Eagle – so close that the two were standing neck-to-neck in the hotel room. "Sit on the bed."

A chill ran down Eagle's spine, a million imaginations running through the course of his body. "Dude –"

"Now it's _you_ who has a sick imagination, Eagle. Not me."

"Can we just get on with this?" May demanded. Snake spun towards her, as if realizing she was there for the first time. Or are we going to drag this out like some cheesy movie with underpaid actors?"

"Sure. I'll start with you, my dear princess." Snake moved closer too her. Eagle could see May steel herself. Eagle was hoping that Snake really, really hadn't gone dark side. Or they would be so screwed.

Eagle spun forward. "Leave. My. Sister. Alone."

"Technically, she's not your sister. That was only valid when they thought you were mentally retarded. Although I suppose we could still claim that you were mentally retarded," Snake remarked.

"Listen, man. We can end this one of two ways. We can end this in a good way or in a bad—" before Eagle knew what happened, he was pushed roughly forward, and shoved towards the bed. He allowed himself to tumble down, his head striking the bed post. He tried to get up, but Snake wouldn't let him.

"May, go to the bathroom and close the door," Snake said. He didn't want her to witness what was about to take place.

"Leave. My. Brother alone," May growled. She, just like Eagle, was looking to dwindle down Snake's options; to dwindle down the hope that Snake had.

"Not an option, Sweetie. Now just go to the bathroom and close the door." Snake turned to Eagle as May finally obeyed his instructions. "Now, now, now. What am I going to do with you?"

Eagle gulped.

"Tahoma only said I have to leave bruises on you – he didn't specify how."

"You're a bastard, you know that, right?" Eagle spat out. Snake didn't even flinch at his use of language. They had heard it all before.

"I know that. I'm quite okay with that. But… you know, I really hate to let Tahoma down. I think, instead of letting Tahoma down, I'm going to go above and beyond."

Eagle visibly swallowed hard, and gulped as Snake drew his knife from his pocket and moved closer.

_This wasn't going to end well._

* * *

><p>Alex roughly paced the living room. Helena had finally given in and fallen asleep on the couch a few hours ago. "What do we have?" he demanded as he looked at Wolf.<p>

"What we have is Tahoma's real name." Wolf gave him a smile.

Alex glanced at him. "What do you mean? I mean, I assumed Tahoma is an alias, but…"

"Listen to this. It's from MI6. They finally divulged something."

_## recording ## _

_"It is Snake. The weather is spicy."_

_"You've finally reached us. We were getting a little worried about not getting ahold of you."_

_"Well, you did. I mean, I got in touch with you. Can you tell me anything about the situation with the K-Unit?"_

_"Negative, they haven't checked in. What's your location?"_

_"I'm with Tahoma. We were forced to separate because there were people who had arrested Wolf and I. I thought Tahoma died in the shoot-out with one of the slaves' fathers, but he didn't. He came for me." _

_"He came for you? So – who is with you?"_

_"Eagle, and another slave. Female. Young. I think sixteen." _

_"That's not good."_

_"You don't have to tell me that twice."_

_"Listen, we need you to do something. We have found Tahoma's real name. It is Jordan Black." _

_"Jordan Black?" _

_"Yeah. Listen, this guy's wanted for everything: murder, drug dealing, shoot-out with the cops, you name it. He has been getting intelligence on MI6_ that leads me to believe that he is going to find out soon that you and Eagle are undercover."

_"Shit."_

_"Here's what I want you to do. Get close to him, personal. Tell him you've been gathering data, and that you're working for MI6. Tell him that you're defecting and that you're giving up your cover."_

_"What about Eagle?"_

_"You've been treating Eagle like a slave, right?"_

_"That's what you said to do." _Alex could tell by the sound of Snake's voice that he wasn't very happy with that statement.

_"Then keep doing that. Keep treating Eagle like a slave. Don't differ, don't show sympathy and don't show mercy. Don't allow him to get the best of you. Just – push through and make sure that you're the one who gets to him. Don't let intelligence reveal it first."_

"That abruptly ends the conversation."

"So…" Alex allowed the wheels to spin in his head. "Mi6 has a mole."

Wolf nodded grimly. "MI6 has a mole."

"Well, that just makes things – oh shit." Alex winced as he maneuvered towards another laptop. "Wolf, I think I may know who the mole is."

"The mole?"

"My stepfather – brilliant man that he was, was also stupid. Look at this." Alex booted up the man's email, typing in the password that his father thought he had so protected. "I don't know why I didn't think of this until now, sorry, sorry. Anyway, he kept data in his email sometimes. Look at this email."

"It's from Ash…"

"Anthony Sean Hartwell," Wolf read from the email. "But why would your father be emailing him?"

"That's just it. If Ash is working for MI6, he shouldn't be emailing my dad. These emails may reveal where Snake and Eagle – and May - are."

"Kid, you're a genius." Wolf looked at the mouse, all but ready to tell Alex to move over. He quickly changed his mind. "Here; you're such a genius, you get to help me figure this out – I don't really know how to work a computer."

"You, my friend," Alex declared, "are stuck in the 20th century."

"That's not the century we're in?" Wolf teased.

Alex rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Amaya looked at May with an absolute hatred filling her being. She didn't know what to expect, but this wasn't it. Initially, she had been happy when her father had promised her to be able to punish May.<p>

Now she was just stressed out. How did her father deal with this all of the time? Maybe she didn't want to create a drug dealing living for herself. She sighed. May, who she had hoped would be cowering with fear, was really just glaring at her.

_Nicely done. _

Taking a deep breath, she sighed melodramatically, as if this was the worst thing in the world that she had to do. She looked up at May once more. The teenager was biting on her nails. "Great. What am I supposed to do with you?"

May gave her a scathing look. "Really, that's what you give me? I was hoping that you would have a better response than that. After all, _you're the one who decided that I should be tormented by you_. And you don't even have an idea. Don't you watch James Bond?"

Amaya pouted. "Daddy won't let me," she said. Maybe the teenage brat was right. Maybe she should watch some James Bond. Would it give her an idea of how to torture May, though? She sighed and glanced at her watch. Daddy had given her an hour to decide how to treat May.

The problem was, she didn't know what to do.

Eagle had come back all bloody. She wanted to make May look something like that. But not that bloody. Amaya didn't like blood.

So… what could she do?

* * *

><p>THANKS for your patience! I'm finally updating like normal again. I have won the November Novel Writing Month challenge with 50,353 words :) Thanks for your patience once more.<p>

Challenge: Why did Eagle come back all bloody?

What will Amaya do to May?

Tahoma is oddly silent. What's he up to?

What are Wolf and Alex going to do with this new information?


	36. The Hidden Life of Amaya

A/N: A huge thanks to Rainstripe and her help on this chapter! She actually drafted a few paragraphs herself!

* * *

><p>Amaya paced restlessly, hatred filling her being. May and Eagle were the two people responsible for destroying her life as she had known it. "If Daddy hadn't said no, I would have just locked you in this closet," she complained.<p>

"Why did your father say no to that?" Amaya glanced at May. May looked exhausted, as if she'd been up for twenty-four hours straight. It took Amaya a second to realize that May actually _had _been up for twenty-four hours straight. Amaya tried to feel badly for her, but realized that she couldn't. Not when May and Eagle were looking to take away everything that she knew with her life.

"Doesn't matter, does it?" She asked. "He still gave me permission to torture you."

May actually laughed at that, making Amaya's blood boil. "Oh, you're doing such a good job of it," she purred. "I'm really going to die of boredom, here."

Amaya was suddenly reminded of her kindergarten teacher in high school, who said, _'be nice, sweetie_'. Well, obviously her teacher hadn't experienced shit in the real world. Amaya reached out and backhanded May.

"Oh, that really hurt," May said. She took a step backward, checking behind her to make sure she wasn't going to break anything. Amaya lunged forward, reaching out and punching her in the nose. May coughed and suddenly blood started flowing.

Crap. Amaya had been really hoping to avoid the whole blood thing. Her father had taught her that beating people was always the most effective way to go; it didn't leave too much blood. Clearly, her father had forgotten to explain about the whole punching the nose thing.

"Please," May said even as she lunged for the towel. "Eagle hits harder then you and he doesn't even try and hurt anyone." She growled, and Amaya wondered if she was right, the punch hadn't hurt.

The mention of Eagle made Amaya flare up with anger once more. Eagle and May were trying to destroy her life as she knew it. What did a little blood matter? What did her father's commands matter? She reached into her back pocket and lifted up a pocket knife.

She saw May visibly swallow. "Amaya, you know that if you hurt me with that, you'll be facing juvie, right?"

"Oh, please," Amaya said with more confidence than she felt. "My father will get me out of any charges."

"Oh, how? By making a new identity for you? By changing everything you've ever known?" May questioned, staring Amaya directly in the eye.

Amaya growled and lunged forward, stabbing at May with the knife.

## break ##

Eagle groaned as he awoke, finally fluttering back to unconsciousness. He really had to wonder about Snake now. The man hadn't hurt him as much as he could have, and Eagle knew that wasn't just because of his medical training. Had Snake actually gone dark side, Eagle would have faced a lot more pain, he knew that. Eagle slowly rose from the bed, reminding himself that he'd just been attacked and had lost some blood and that he needed to take it easy.

That wasn't easy for Eagle to remember. He slowly glanced at May's mattress. Oh, that was _another _lovely consequence of their escape attempt. Everything in their room had been stripped down to the bare minimum, and they had even had a change of rooms. Now, they slept on mattresses without sheets and each only had one blanket.

Bloody awesome.

May, much to his relief, was sleeping soundly. He was glad to see that; he had been worried about her when she had been sent to...

...wait...

What the bloody _hell?_

He gently shook May awake, hoping not to hurt her or to disturb the other sleeping figure in the bed. May abruptly woke up, blinking. "Is it morning already?" she asked.

"Not a clue in the world," Eagle responded tiredly. He didn't think that it was; he was still rubbing sleep from his eyes himself. "Who the _hell is_ in bed with you?" If the situation hadn't been so dire, it would have been almost funny.

May glanced over at her sleeping partner and did a double take. "What, you mean to tell me that you don't recognize Amaya?"

"I recognize her just fine. Why is she sleeping in our room?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," May replied, a worried look on her face as she glanced at the teenager.

"How badly did she hurt you?"

"Not too badly, actually, other than this." May lifted up her sleeve to reveal a long, ugly mark running down her arm.

"Why the heck is she sleeping in our room... in your bed? I know her father gave her a nicer room than this. He brags about it just as much as she does," Eagle muttered, disgust filling his voice.

"I don't know," May responded. She maneuvered closer to Amaya's side of the bed and gently shook the teenager awake. "Amaya?" she asked, attempting to make her voice sound like she actually cared about the teenager.

"Wha..." Amaya hastily blinked awake, startled. "I'm so sorry," she said, blushing. "I'm sorry. I meant to be out of here..." with that, she started for the door.

"Whoa, hey," Eagle said gently, maneuvering closer to the door so that he could block her escape. "Despite what your father says, we're not the bad guys here. Why are you in our room? I know you have a nicer one."

"I... I can't tell you," Amaya said. She pulled her hair hastily into a ponytail, taking care to brush her hair out of her eyes.

"Yes, you can," May responded. "Come on, Amaya. Just tell us. It's not like anyone here will believe what we say anyway."

Amaya swallowed visibly. Her hand slid to her shoulder, flinching as it made contact. Eagle reached over and flicked on the light. Amaya's face was littered with bruises, each one a dark blue color. Amaya looked down, avoiding both of their gazes, her face the image of despair.

"Amaya... did your father do this to you?" Eagle whispered, his voice barely heard.

"Does it matter?" she asked with clenched hands.

"It matters to us," May responded.

"Why?" Amaya asked. "It's never mattered to anyone else before." Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over now.

"Because we aren't 'everyone else'," May responded patiently. "And if you are being abused, we can help you. You can help us. We can get out of here."

Amaya laughed bitterly. "My father always told me he'd put me in jail if I ever got out of here."

"Amaya, with all due respect," Eagle said, even though he felt no respect towards the girl's father, "Your father doesn't know anything and probably couldn't help find his way out of a wet paper bag. Have you ever killed anyone? Committed a crime?"

"You really think I've done such a thing?" she demanded. Eagle saw a flash cross her face and guessed that she remembered hurting May. "Look, my father did this to me. He said I didn't hurt May enough. So I hope you're happy," she spat bitterly.

"Hey, listen," Eagle said, a plan forming in his mind, "I think I know how we can get out of here."

"It won't work," Amaya whispered, "I've tried to run away before, but every time I did, he caught me," she cut off, tears running down her face.

Eagle visibly swallowed. If even Tahoma's own daughter couldn't escape from here, how could they ever hope too?

* * *

><p>Alex sat through the computer, going through his step-father's emails. Wolf had gone to talk to Fox and the sergeant about what the recording had on it. Alex knew that Wolf would have to come clean about Eagle's true SAS status now, if he hadn't already. The past few days had been so much of a blur he couldn't remember half of what happened.<p>

Helena pulled up a chair and sat next to Alex, looking at the e-mail. "You know, when I first checked this after I'd been rescued, I had like six thousand emails in my spam box."

Alex glanced at her. "Doesn't Google mail delete them after every month or something?"

"My mail service doesn't," Helena said with a shrug. She pointed to the computer. "Hey-if your father -"

"Stepfather," Alex interrupted patiently. "Stepfather."

"Okay, sorry. Stepfather. If your stepfather had something private, I don't think he would have put it in the inbox. I mean, if someone hacks his email, that's just too personal. Search for Ash's email in the search address box. That'll cut out a lot of time."

"I've been away from the computer for too long," Alex muttered darkly, thinking of his time between MI6 and his stepfather. "Okay... wow..." he said, his voice trailing off. He had the feeling he would learn more about his stepfather through emails than he ever had before.

"Click on that one," Helena ordered. At Alex's blank stare and quick compliance, Helena shrugged. "The subject was 'rendezvous point.' That didn't take too much thought."

Alex smirked. "You're a genius... wow... hey... look... that email wasn't dated too long ago. And there's a hotel name in there, too."

"Well, we did think that he was going to the hotel. We just didn't think he'd be stupid enough to leave it in his inbox," Helena remarked as Alex skimmed the inbox.

_I have two slaves for you. An MI6 man and my kid. I can't stand him anymore. I don't care what Jack says, I'm not ready to have children. And besides, I could use the extra money. …_

Alex swallowed hard after that. His stepfather had never wanted him; that much was true, he knew that now. Even though the man was dead, Alex vowed to get back at him with everything he had.

"Wolf!" he called. The man stuck his head through the doorway to the room, Fox and the their sergeant following closely behind. "We may have found the hotel we thought that we knew about."

"Your father," Wolf responded, reading the email, "was not -"

"Stepfather," Alex hastily interrupted.

"Stepfather," Wolf said, his eyes flickering up to meet Fox's, "Was not the world's brightest man. And obviously this Ash person isn't either. Clearly, they forgot to clear out his email after they shot him."

"Probably thought he was dead and it wouldn't matter," the sergeant remarked.

"He was in the middle of the organization, so he had some power," Alex said, "but he was getting threats and stuff. I'm not at all surprised they killed him."

"You don't sound too sorry, either," Fox remarked.

"Well, are _you_?" Alex said.

Fox just shook his head. "Let's get this to MI6-"

"Whoa, hold up," Wolf said, stopping his comrade in the middle of his train of thought. "MI6 has a bloody leak. Sure, we think it's Ash, and it probably is Ash. But what if Ash isn't the only link? I think we should go after this guy ourselves."

"Wolf, I'm all for killing Tahoma myself, but you lived with him - the guy has a small army. A small _loyal _army," Fox remarked. "I think we're going to need more help than just the three of us."

Wolf snorted. "I know that, of course. My identity and your identity still appear to be safe. We're going to check their current location out first. Sergeant, can you please set up a SWAT team? Actually, can you please set up several swat teams? I have the feeling we're going to need them."

* * *

><p>Wow! An update! Thanks to all of your patience. I promise that Some Rich Man's Son will be updated soon. Here are your challenges.<p>

1. Has Amaya really tried to run away before, and if so, how badly has Tahoma hurt her? Or is she just trying to play the slaves to gain information?

2. Where exactly are Snake and Tahoma in this chapter?

3: Will Alex just sit idly by while Wolf and Fox go on a stakeout? If not, what is he going to do?

4: Which paragraph did Rainstripe help write?


	37. Needed: One Getaway Car

Alex followed Helena to her room, watching her as she grabbed a purse. She smiled at him. "You really didn't think I was a very girly girl, did you?" she asked.

"You never really had much of a chance to be one," Alex remarked. He knew they were both referring to the time she was held captive at the compound. "What are you looking for?"

Helena pulled out her wallet and quickly removed an item. "This," she responded, kissing it. It was her driver's license. "Daddy taught me how to drive and got me my driver's license right before I went missing. I still remember how."

Alex looked at her wearily. "If you don't, I do…"

"But you don't know how to drive, right?" Helena questioned, looking at Alex.

"I just said I know how to drive. I don't happen to have a license, unfortunately. Silly rule about them being sixteen and all," Alex remarked. He covered the scar on his arm by pulling down the long sleeve of his shirt.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen," Alex remarked.

"And you know how to drive and you don't have a license?"

"My stepfather refused to sign the papers or take me to get my test, and before we got anywhere close to that discussion now… oh, hell with it, let's just go," Alex said, not feeling like revealing any of his drama. "Wait, what car are we going to take?"

"There are two SAS members here, one father, and plenty of police cars. Trust me when I say that we can find someone's car," Helena said with a grin.

"What are you going to tell my father?"

"You just get so caught up in the logistics of everything, don't you?" Helena demanded. "Just trust me. I have a plan."

Alex raised his eyebrow. "Right. Sure…"

## break ##

Twenty minutes later, Helena and Alex were riding down the street in her father's old black cruiser. He had brought it over from their old house. After they found May, they would be moving to a new house and would restart their life.

"Nice plan," Alex commented.

"It worked!" Helena responded.

Helena had tried to grab the keys off of her father's kitchen counter. It had almost worked – until Fox had wanted to know where they were going. Alex had called Helena, yelling that she'd better hurry up and get her father the keys before they lost it, and with that the two of them were out the door.

"Yeah, because I was there," Alex said.

"I would have thought of that eventually."

"Do you know we're officially in a stolen vehicle?"

Helena fixed him with a look, a sad one. "This was Mom's old car. He kept it around because it reminded him of Mom.

He was going to give it to me on my birthday, but obviously, that never happened. So, technically the car is mine."

"I was more thinking that they could trace the GPS."

"Crap," Helena muttered, quickly entering in the address. "Well, that's good, right? That will just give them a place to

rescue us from. Assuming we get kidnapped, which we'd better not. Kidnapping is so last season."

## break ##

Eagle paced restlessly in his room. May watched him. Both were nervous about Amaya. She had seem agitated after she left the room. They had no way to know if Amaya was trustworthy or not. She could still be pissed about May shoving her into the ditch and want revenge from that.

"We've got to get out of here!" Eagle exclaimed, sinking down on his seat. "I'm bored."

"You're bored?" May responded, glaring at him. "We're kidnapped by a madman, and all you can think of is that you're bored?"

"Actually, I can think of a few other things, but none of them are suitable for a minor," Eagle remarked, grinning at May. "Did you hear Snake and Amaya's father talking last night?"

May sighed. "Yes, I did. I heard them talking rather loudly, but I wasn't paying attention because I was trying to sleep. What did they say?"

"They said they were going to be gone this afternoon from 2-4," Eagle said, "And guess what time it is now?"

May glanced at the clock. "It's 2:00 now," she remarked. She grinned. "Escape time, right? Except… how do we get out of here?"

"Easy," Eagle responded, "anyone asks and we're on an assignment from Tahoma."

"So… what assignment are we on?" May questioned, worried now. Eagle had the same look on his face that Helena did right before she got into trouble with Tahoma.

"Stealing his car keys. Look, I'll distract his wife and child, you grab them," Eagle said, quickly giving directions to what they are. "Why are you giving me that look?" he demanded.

May smirked. "Trust me, what I'm thinking isn't suitable for an adult," she responded.

"Touché," Eagle responded as the two made their way downstairs.

## break ##

Fox checked his watch. He hadn't seen either Helena or Alex in two hours, and he wanted to check and make sure that they were there before he moved out. He checked the room the two shared. "Hey, Wolf? Have you seen Cub or Helena?"

"No, why?"

"They aren't in their room."

"Hey, has anyone seen my car keys?" Helena's father asked, coming through the room.  
>Fox turned towards Wolf. "God, tell me I'm wrong."<p>

"Fox, I hope to hell you're wrong, because if not, we're on mission number two: save Helena and Cub and then kill them."

The sergeant turned towards Fox. "Can you please explain to me what it is about your unit and death threats? You guys give more death threats than anything I've ever known."

Fox grinned at him. "Trust me, if you were in our unit, you'd know why."

"Well… I'm not in your unit, so how about you just fill me in?" the man asked.

"It's our way of letting someone know that we're about to kill them without murdering their body physically. Come on, let's find Cub and your daughter before they get themselves killed."  
>"What makes you so sure they're in danger?" the man asked.<p>

Fox turned to face the man. "You've been around Cub for what, almost two weeks now?"

"Yeah…"

"You know your daughter well, right?" Fox had been around her enough to know that she was a woman of action and would be no doubt determined to go after her sister if she had any knowledge of her whereabouts.

"Yeah, she's always been a woman of action…" The sergeant looked exhausted.

"Put Cub – who always gets in trouble – with Helena – who wants to find your sister – and you'll soon find that they're already on the lookout for trouble… they want to find the man who kidnapped May and Eagle… so, we're going to have to go find them before they get killed."

"You don't think she would -," the sergeant started to say but was stopped.  
>Wolf poked his head in the door. "Sergeant?"<p>

"Yeah?"

"Your car's missing."

## break ##

Thanks a million to Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur, who did the challenges! Don't forget to answer them! Sorry for the delay in updates, school has started once more.

What did Helena type into the GPS?

Did May make a good distraction? Did Eagle manage to snatch the keys? Where are they going if they make their escape?

Will either of the groups-May/Eagle or Helena/Alex - get away unharmed?

Will Wolf and Fox find either of the groups? If so how and when?

Vote for your favorite character! ^^


	38. When Kids Drive

Alex and Helena didn't fight long over who got the right to drive. That hardly mattered. What really mattered was that they got a start on their mission. Helena was relatively sure that whoever noticed they were gone would start the ball rolling to track them down, so they had to get going as fast as possible in the right direction. There was a time to argue for your pride and a time to argue who had the most driving experience.

Helena won. Life versus pride and safety... there was no competition. Alex sighed and thought about his new guardian, Wolf, wondering if he could really trust the man. Sure, the man had been nice to him the past few days. But he had owned Eagle as a slave, something that scared Alex. Sure, it looked like MI6 had directed it, but what if it was all a cover-up? Alex shook that thought out of his head. He really didn't know what to think.

But he had to find Eagle... Alex could clear everything up. He had been able to talk to Eagle only a little bit but he knew he could trust him. If he could only tell Alex what was going on... They had to stop Tahoma's ring. Eagle was still missing. May was still missing. He knew Helena was missing her sister horribly.

Not to mention that Snake was still missing. They had had absolutely no contact with him from what Alex knew.

They could also be dead, because they hadn't heard anything yet from them, and there was supposedly someone leaking information from MI6... A steadying breath brought Alex back to reality.

"I'm sorry about your stepfather," Helena said quietly, keeping her eye on the road as she spoke. She was nervous about what they would find there, Alex could tell. He was too. Although he was slowly beginning to trust Wolf, he didn't totally trust him. He really wanted Eagle back.

He wanted to know - no, he needed to know - what Eagle had gone through as Wolf's 'slave.' That would help him be able to focus on... he didn't even know. What would it be like to be normal again? He snapped back to the present. "Don't be," he said coldly. "He was a bastard, and I'm glad he's dead."

"So... I have a question," Helena said. Alex noticed that she looked distinctly uncomfortable and wondered what she was about to ask.

"Just ask it. I don't get offended. Ever. Unless you cause me bodily harm," Alex responded. Okay, so that was a slight over-exaggeration, but it was mostly the truth. "What do you want to know?"

Helena considered her words carefully. "Eagle's not really mentally retarded, is he?" she asked. She knew the older adults had been talking about it but she hadn't been paying much attention. She had been too worried about her sister (and supposedly adopted brother, Eagle), and had been too busy focusing on getting sleep.

"No." Alex wasn't really sure how much to self-disclose to her. "No. I mean, he appears like it at times, but I think that's just his endless energy and his childlike behaviors... But no, he's actually not."

"I want to know how Tahoma faked the records that said he was mentally retarded," Helena responded. Alex could see that she was upset. He didn't blame her. "If he could do it once, what if he does it again? What if he does it with May?"

"I don't think he will. Hey - how old is your sister?"

"Sixteen," Helena responded "Do you have any family?"

"What... are we playing twenty questions or something?" Alex asked with a roll of his eyes. He quickly sobered. "No. My uncle died awhile back and left me in the custody of Jack. Long story short, you know the whole slave scenario. Wolf knew me before all that and took my custody. He still has it. So... What does the name 'Kitai' mean? Do you know?"

Helena looked at him. "Oddly, it means Hope. Why does Wolf call you Cub? Wasn't that the slave name Tahoma gave you?"

Alex blushed furiously. "It's a long story... Oddly, it was my nickname before I got abducted..." he let his voice trail off.

"I don't know what to do when we get there," Helena commented, filling the silence.

"Oh, that part's easy," Alex reassured her. "We call in your dad and my caretaker, and we tell them we're being held hostage. Then we go in and find your sister - look out!" he screeched as they crashed into another car. He was conscious for only seconds before everything faded to black.

## break ##

EARLIER, SAME DAY

Eagle exhaled noisily as he made his way down the stairs. He would never admit it to May, but he was extremely nervous. He knew that something could go horribly wrong with this. It was right then when he was thinking that he almost bumped into a teenage boy. The teenager couldn't be any older than about fifteen or sixteen. He was certainly young.

Eagle knew that there were other slaves there. He wasn't blind, he knew that Tahoma kept young slaves. After all, that was part of the reason why they were trying so hard to take Tahoma down. The other part was that he just wanted his freedom back. "I'm sorry," he apologized immediately. Slave or not, the kid could get him in trouble if Eagle wasn't careful. Mildly, he wondered if the teen was a slave or if he was one of Tahoma's children.

The teenager stared at him as if he had three heads. "You're sorry?" he asked. "Who are you?"

Eagle paused. He knew that this escape plan relied completely on Tahoma not home and that he had to make a really good head start. "Eagle," he said. He hadn't used his real name in forever. It was one thing when he was a member of the SAS; another when he was a slave.

"Where are you going?" the teenager asked.

Eagle hesitated. Why did the teen want to know? He decided to lie. "I'm on a mission," he responded.

The team laughed. "Really?" He sneered. "He never does missions for our slaves. So unless you mean to escape, and it's not a mission for our boss," he said, "the mission isn't for Tahoma... he never sends slaves out on missions... which means..."

"Why does it matter to you?" Eagle questioned. He really didn't trust this teenager.

"Because if you are escaping, I want to go with you too," the teenager said. He briefly showed a set of keys. Eagle inwardly groaned - the kid had the keys he needed.

"Where did you get those? Eagle asked, looking at teenage boy in surprise. The teenager just smirked.

"I have my ways," he said. "Now, let's go." It was clear the teenager wasn't exactly wanting to wait around until Tahoma came back, either.

"Wait a second," Eagle said." We have to go get May." There was no way he was leaving her behind.

The teenager looked at him. "Fine by me. I will get the car started. Meet you out back?"

Just then, there was a sudden scream. "Go get the car!" Eagle commanded. He knew it was May. That wasn't good. How could she get in so much trouble walking down the stairs?

Eagle sprinted the other way, towards the kitchen. Where he stopped in the entry way that was blocked by a person. Inside the kitchen, Eagle peered over the shoulder of a chef. Well, there went his theory that they were the only ones there for the afternoon. How many slaves and workers did Tahoma have at this location?

"What are you doing?" the chef demanded grumpily. Eagles saw it best to ignore him. He followed the chef's glare and his eyes locked onto May's. May was now on the slick kitchen tile. Little grains of rice scattered over the floor. Broken bags seemed to be the cause. The chef glared at her. "You had better clean up any blood," he said.

May stood up. She glanced at Eagle. "Oh, no," she whispered. They had to get out of here. Quickly, she raised her voice. "Eagle, can you help me? I need to go out to the car and get some rags to clean up this mess."

Amaya just chuckled. "Serves you right," she said as she walked up the stairs. Eagle would later learn she had pushed May down the stairs for "being in her way." Amaya would never know that was what enabled May and Eagle to escape so easily.

## break ##

Eagle and May raced out of the kitchen as soon as Amaya disappeared up the stairs and the chef walked away grumbling something. They managed to slip by a few wandering people to eventually make it outside. Eagle hadn't really had a chance to explore the hotel and was surprised at how many people were there.

The bright light from the sun blinded them temporarily and Eagle jumped when a car appeared in front of them. The window rolled down to show the teenager he had run into.

"Need a lift?" he questioned.

May looked wearily at Eagle before he nodded and motioned for her to get into the back seat. Eagle sat in the passenger seat, and looked at the teen, who was driving.

"Umm, do you want me to drive?" Eagle asked. The teen only looked to be about fifteen or sixteen and probably didn't have a lot of driving experience.

"Nah," the teen replied as he changed gears and pulled away.

"Do you _need_ me to drive? Like, do you know how to...?" Eagle trailed off when the teen glared at him from the corner of his eye.

"I have it covered. Just tell me where you guys are heading."

May swallowed and buckled her seat belt the same time Eagle did. She had almost died falling down the stairs, she didn't need to be careless by not wearing a simple safety device. Eagle outlined the plan for the kid briefly.

"Err, I don't mean to be rude," May started, but before she could finish, Eagle butted in, demanding answers of his own.

"Who the hell are you?" Eagle asked. They needed to know if they could trust this guy.

"Momotaro," the teen said as swerved onto a busy street.

"What kind of name is that?" Eagle snapped as he grabbed on to the shoulder rest for dear life.

"What kind of name is Eagle?" Momotaro fired back at him.

"He's got you there," May said. Eagle turned back around and glared at her.

"I asked you first," Eagle clarified, turning back to look at the kid.

"Tahoma chose it, yours?"

"Snake," Eagle grumbled before he cleared out his throat. "My old master, he never told me his real name."

"What about you?" Momotaro asked as his eyes shifted in the rear view mirror and landed on May.

"The name's May," she told him. "So you were Tahoma's slave?"

"Yes, and I'm assuming you guys were just in the car for the ride to freedom, or what?" When Momotaro had known that Tahoma was going to be out for a few hours he had plotted to steal a few hours of freedom. Now, he was helping these guys escape.

"More or less," Eagle said as his eyes narrowed at the car that barely managed to scrape by them. "Are you positive you don't want me to drive?"

"Certain," Momotaro mumbled as he slammed on his breaks. Eagle jerked forward then back again, though he didn't have a chance to look around as the car picked up speed again.

"What was that?" May screamed at him.

"Cat," Momotaro said bluntly.

"I didn't see a cat," Eagle said as he glared at the driver.

"That's because I dodged it!"

"Right, well, Momotaro... Want to tell us about yourself?" Eagle asked. He needed to know if he could trust the kid. He thought that he could, but...

"My slave name is Momotaro. Yours is Eagle, hers," Momotaro flicked his thumb back at May. "Is May. What more do you need to know?"

Eagle stared at him then sighed and grumbled something along the lines of 'stubborn teenagers'. May decided it was her time to take over from there. If they were lucky, Eagle wouldn't kill the kid before they were to their destination.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"What year is it?" Momotaro shot back. He ignored May's look. Was it his fault Tahoma never told him anything?

"You don't know what year it is?" Eagle questioned then glanced back towards May with a raised eyebrow.

"Would I be asking if I did?"

Eagle opened his mouth to snap something back, but May hit him in the arm and cut him off. "It's 2011."

The car was silent, Momotaro focused on the road in front of him. May was at a loss, wondering about the mental capability of Momotaro. If he didn't know what year it was, how much more didn't he know? His voice brought her back to reality.

"I'm fifteen," Momotaro explained.

"Why didn't you know the year?" Eagle questioned.

"How do you? You were one of Tahoma's slaves, right?"

May broke in, afraid that Eagle would screw something up. "Yes, though he let us out of the house every once in a while."

Momotaro nodded in thought. Eagle glanced at him, taking in his appearance. He had shaggy black hair, that needed a decent cut. His skin was pale and he had little freckles on his nose. Eagle really did wonder how much sunlight this kid got. He doubted that he got much sunlight if Momotaro didn't even know the year.

"What was it like?" Momotaro asked after a few moments of silence. Somehow, the car hadn't been in a wreck yet. Eagle thanked his lucky stars.

"What was _what_ like?" Eagle had to remind himself not to kill the kid. The kid was just trying to escape like they were. It wasn't Momotaro's fault Eagle had a short fuse.

"You know... being outside," Momotaro said.

Eagle's jaw dropped. He was so going to prosecute Tahoma to the fullest extent of the law - if he didn't kill him himself. Not that he would ever do that, of course. Illegally. But if he got a chance...

"It's kinda like this," May said. "Only it's much more relaxing. I've only been a slave for six months. I can't imagine going what you went through or what Eagle went through."

"What did you go through?" Momotaro asked Eagle.

"How about you?" Eagle retorted. He wasn't ready to share his "personal" history with Momotaro, not yet. Even if it was fake.

Momotaro sighed and flexed his fingers over the steering wheel. "I asked you first."

"I am older, therefore, you should respect your elders," Eagle snapped, almost yelling at him.

Momotaro winced before he spoke, and May knew that Eagle had gone too far. It was time she added into the questions before Momotaro crashed the car because he was mad at Eagle. "I have no who deserves my respect," Momotaro told him before she could say anything.

"You don't have any family?" May questioned sadly. She couldn't imagine a life without her sister, Helena, right by her side. Especially during the months she was held as a slave.

Momotaro was silent and May knew she hit a soft spot. "Not that I know of," he told them.

"How do you not know if you have any family?" Eagle questioned. May knew he was acting like an idiot to push for information. At least, that was what she hoped.

"Is this now the twenty questions game?" Momotaro asked.

Eagle smacked his forehead in frustration. He sighed and opened his mouth to say something else but May lightly tapped his shoulder before she continued where he left off.

"Is there something you remember from your past life?" May asked him.

"Of course I have memories. Repressed memories I would rather keep to myself," Momotaro said.

"Sorry," May mumbled.

"It's fine, you didn't know," Momotaro told her.

"Obviously we didn't know, otherwise she wouldn't have asked," Eagle yelled at him, finally loosing his temper "How the hell are we supposed to figure out anything if you keep speaking in circles?"

Momotaro froze and his hands tightened on the steering wheel. Eagle had unknowingly sent him to a flashback and he had to fight to keep his concentration on the road. "I-I...I'm sorry."

"I..I-I didn't know, I'm sorry Eagle. I haven't talked to-to a lot of people in quite a while," he sighed and began speaking again. Eagle's jaw dropped, and he felt bad. Even when he had been a slave he had at least been able to get out of the house. And Snake hadn't totally beaten him up. He swallowed, thinking about how bad it could have been. Eagle knew that if Momotaro had lived anything like he and May had, he wouldn't have talked to anyone who had really cared about him.

"I don't remember a whole lot. The years blend together if I think about them individually. However my main memory was that I sold drugs for income. Sometimes it would be for money, others for a specific drug. Those I would give our mother. 'Our mother' being me and my little sister, Natalie. That went on for..." Momotaro paused, and Eagle saw his fingers twitch. He suspected that Momotaro was counting. "A few months," he told them, as he ran out of fingers, not remembering the exact number.

"'Our mother' made me try something...I don't know what it was, but it made me sick. I tried to keep it a secret, but Natalie soon found out. She was heart broken by not only the fact that I took it, from mothers orders or not, but that I didn't tell her. I then vowed that I would protect her from the dangers of the world. 'Our mother' was one of the top five."

Momotaro was silent after that. May stared at Eagle in shock, what were they supposed to say now? Luckily, Momotaro filled the silence. "How long have you been a slave?" Momotaro asked Eagle. He allowed his eyes to deter from the road for just a minute.

Eagle hated to lie but did so anyway. "Ten years. Long story. Watch the road!" he screamed, seeing the car flying towards them. He grabbed Momotaro's steering wheel just in time. Then, everything went black.

## break ##

I think this is my longest chapter yet. I would like to thank Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur for taking her time to work on the chapter with me and guest staring as Natalie and as Momotaro. She is very talented, and apparently can live 3 lives at once.

Challenges:

1. Who did Helena and Alex run into? Who did Eagle, Momotaro, and May run into?

2. What will happen to Momotaro when he is rescued?

3. Where on earth is Snake? What happened to Tahoma?

.4. What will the girl's father say when he realizes that they have BOTH gotten into car accidents?


	39. Stalling Snake

A/N: Oh my GOODNESS! Elizabeth is ALIVE!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider. I own the unique ideas and characters pertaining to this story. You must ask before using them. Don't worry. I don't bite.

* * *

><p>Eagle groaned back to consciousness. Once be blinked his eyes open, he struggled to remain awake. He felt sick to his stomach but pushed it aside. It was dark. Shit, how long had he been out?<p>

He shook Monotaro awake and the kid quickly glanced up. "Eagle?" he asked.

Eagle nodded. "Yeah. Wake up May, please. We've got to get out of here..." he let his voice trail off as he looked at the other car, blinking twice. He swallowed hard and made his way over to the wreck, quickly deciding he really didn't want to know why Cub and Helena were there.

Cub was just stirring as he was shaken awake by Eagle. "Eagle?" he asked. "What the hell... We were looking for you!"

"You found me," he responded, "nice job, by the way – we were just escaping and you crashed into us."

"Oh," Cub responed. He shrugged. "I'll wake up Helena."

_Save the chewing out for later_, Eagle mentally told himself. He paled when he saw a recognizable, nearby car approaching. It was still about four miles away but Eagle knew it would approach all too quickly. "Guys! Hide!" he screamed. "Monotaro, take May, Helena and Cub and go into the forest. I'm going to get captured and throw them off. Whatever you do, don't try to 'rescue' me, I'll be fine!"

"But-" Monotaro started.

"I'll be fine!" Eagle repeated even as he ran towards the oncoming car. The kids disappeared into the cover of darkness, with Cub being grateful he had worn a dark t-shirt.

"I know you," Monotaro told Helena as they worked on slipping deeper into the darkness.

"I was one of Tahoma's slaves. I escaped."

"How'd you manage that?"

"My father's a cop – a _legitimate_ one. May, I swear to God, don't you ever get kidnapped again!"

"You two know each other?"

"We're sisters," May said. They would have their touchy-feely reunion later. Eagle was right; they didn't have much time. "You brought Cub?"

"He helped me escape from the house."

"Does Dad know?"

"He will soon enough. We left when it was still light."

"Maybe you should call him," May suggested.

Helena paused. "Good idea. Maybe you should, though. He's speed dial number one. He's less likely to kill you than me."

"We need to be quiet for the next five or so miles so we can throw them off our trail," Cub spoke up. "We don't know what their plan is, nor how hard they'll look for us. Monotaro and I will go left. You and May will go right. Helena, call your father. Worry about how pissed he'll be later. And Eagle's right, don't try to rescue him. He can take care of himself. Go!" He said, hearing the voices yell in the distance.

## break ##

"So who are you?" Monotaro asked as the two boys started down the dark path.

"Cub. I used to be one of Tahoma's slaves, but I'm free now."

"So it is possible," Monotaro mused.

"Yes, it is. He's an asshole with a lot of power and money, nothing more," Cub responded. "We're working on taking down his power. What's your name?"

"Monotaro. I am one of his slaves."

Alex shook his head. "No, you're not. You're a human being that he kidnapped. Think of it like that. Do you have a name besides Monotaro?"

Monotaro blinked twice and almost slowed to a stop. It had been yeas since anyone asked him that question. "Niles," he said finally. He paused. "What about you?"

"Alex. Let's get moving. I want to throw them off the girl's trail. Assuming they get this far," he added under his breath. "I hope Helena and May call their dad."

"You trust him? He is a police officer after all."

"I've met the guy. Let's just say... uh... anyone who does harm to his daughters is dead. Yeah, we can trust him."

## break ##

"Dad?" May asked, amazed that her sister's cell phone got reception out in this area.

"Where the hell are you and Eagle? Is Helena with you?"

"Yes, Dad. Helena is with me. We're running... I don't know where we are. Eagle's stalling Tahoma."

Her father swore in the background. "Whatever you do don't hang up. I'm tracing the line. What do you mean Eagle's 'stalling' Tahoma?"

"Let me explain," Helena said as she snatched the phone. "Hi, Dad. It's Helena. Alex and I actually crashed into Eagle and May –,"

"So _that's_ where the car went... Wolf, Cub is with them!"

"Actually, he's not. He went off with another slave named Monotaro and Eagle's stalling Tahoma. We're running away so that he can't take us down."

"Didn't anyone tell you it's better to stay in groups?" Her father muttered and Helena only grinned. They were one step closer to becoming a family again.

## break ##

Eagle was nervous as he approached the car. He had to stall them for as long as he could. The door opened and someone got out.

Snake.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Even if his friend had gone darkside Eagle doubted he would kill him. "Where's your counterpart?" Eagle sneered.

"Where are the kids?" Snake demanded.

"Like you think I'd tell _you_ that."

Snake's face darkened and he quickly made up the distance to Eagle. "Where are they?" he asked in a more hushed tone.

"Fuck off."

"That's it. You're coming with me," Snake said as he grabbed Eagle by the arm and dragged him closer towards the car. Eagle didn't even try and fight back as he was handcuffed and shoved in the backseat.

The door was shut. Eagle breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a lack of Tahoma.

"It's not bugged. Oh, God. I'm sorry Eagle. Ash was about to reveal that we were SAS-slash-MI6, and so MI6 told me I had to reveal us, but I never got a chance to talk to you about it. I had to look like I was darkside or Tahoma would have shot me."

Eagle bit his lip. It sounded good. "Why didn't MI6 bail us out?"

"Because there were one or two dirty cops on the force still. They didn't want to bail us out and have us get captured all over again. They're lazy like that. It's not bugged, where are the kids?"

"Away from here."

"Eagle!"

"Snake, look, I trust you, but look at it from my prospective. You betrayed me and beat me. Hell, you cut me and left little red drops of blood all over my body. Now you're telling me it's all MI6's fault. How do I know you aren't going to hurt the kids? Besides, you've handcuffed me, too. Do you really need to do that?"

Snake bit his lip. "Tahoma said I have to report back to him."

"Screw fucking Tahoma, Snake, and think on your own two feet! Tell him I kidnapped you or something for God's sake!"

"It just doesn't work like that, Eagle! Where are the kids?"

"They got away."

Snake grumbled and pulled the car away. "We have to turn Ash in, so I have to go back, and you have to come with me. No matter what, don't tell me where the kids are; then I can't know," he said. "I'll also have to punish you when we get back."

Eagle swore under his breath. "Oh, joy. How about I just kidnap you and we let MI6 deal with this shit?"

"I want to move on with my life and know I've busted everyone in the ring, don't you agree?" Snake watched Eagle's face carefully. He felt bad but he also had ulterior motives. Tahoma was still on the run and had a tracking chip embedded in Eagle's arm that only he could deactivate.

"Whatever," Eagle muttered as he attempted to cross his arms before he remembered they were handcuffed behind his back. "So does this mean I'm a hostage?"

"I'd prefer to see it as two old friends working together."

"Yeah, but you're not going to let me go even if I want too, right?"

"No, but there are reasons..."

"Then I'm your hostage," Eagle pouted, interrupting Snake. He glared out the window, remaining silent the rest of the ride.

* * *

><p>Challenge:<p>

Does Eagle really believe he's Snake's hostage?

What is Snake's "ulterior motive?"

Will Helena, May, Monotaro and Alex get free?

What will happen to Monotaro after this is over?

P.S. I'd give you a lot of excuses about why I haven't updated, but they'd be excuses, so... yeah. I hope you like it and review!


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